Ije Uwa runs in Quintessence

Ije Uwa runs in Quintessence

This Saturday, the Quintessence Gallery, Park View Estate, Ikoyi in Lagos, opened it door for art lovers and collectors to view the works of contemporary Nigerian artist, Promise O’Nali, in an art exhibition of mix medium, entitle: Ije Uwa (Life’s Trajectory).

 

schism1 (DNA series), 2014,fabrics, cement, glue, plaster, resin and acrylic

The curator of the exhibition, Moses Ohiomokhare, revealed this during a preview session with the press at the gallery last week, in Ikoyi. Lagos. 

According to Ohiomokhare, the show will run for a period of two weeks. “Quintessence is delighted to show works of this promising artist. They are works that one characterizes as contemporary or avant-garde art and will be a delight for collectors and art lover,” he said.

Theme: Ije Uwa; according to O’Nali demystifies the kind of person he is. “My art has gone through a lot of processes in terms of evolution to the state where it is now and it may not be the end point because I am still revolving, searching and experimenting,” he said. 

“Ije Uwa is a phrase that means a lot to a lot of people, it could mean: science, faith, life, evolution or change. There is a lot of drama going on around the Ije Uwa phrase, which is why I fell in love with it,"

O’Nali referred to himself as a versatile artist, which is why he described himself as an experimental artist. “I don’t like terming or tagging myself because it kind of put a hold on me as far as I am concerned, but I can call myself a contemporary experimental artist. I try to stay grounded with contemporary trend in my discipline; I am not like a stagnant artist who is always exploring one theme; that is why I read a lot,” he revealed.

One of the works: “Gaia’s Dilemm is piece about the earth being able to harness poisonous situations and turning it into friendly ally. With all the pollution and unwanted things thrown into the atmosphere to the biopsy, somehow the earth has been able to use all these things to its advantage. The Dilemma is being able to take positive and negative and make something worthwhile,” intimated.

 “This exhibition is quite a discipline to play down on colours and it bit my palate. I was looking at evolution from the state of energy to matter and to self reflective consciousness. The black colour in the paintings represents energy, the earth tone basically represents matter; the geology, how land came to be. I can’t actually put a colour to consciousness, so I explored white in that regard to represent consciousness. That is why most of the paintings for this show are have white background,” he narrated, pointing at the works. “It is basically white, black and the earth tone colours for this exhibition,” he hinted.

This graduate of University of Nigeria, Nsukka, had partaken in several group exhibitions such as Salt of the Earth, Parenting Child Care, and Images of Africa. He had his first solo exhibition in 2010; titled: City of Refuge in Port Harcourt.

 “Ije Uwa or Life’s Trajectory is an inspiration from works of the Creator of Mankind. We all enjoy the great splendor of life because of creation and our maker has endowed us with every good thing including the life process,” Ohiomokhare said.

“Indeed art was the last act of our creator before He rested and is a great communication tool for mankind and occupies a place of honour in the world. It is a stamp of authority on the culture of a people.  Ije Uwa is an honor for life pregnancy; as well all enjoy the great splendor of life because of creation.”