Art, offspring of the mind

True art is made noble and religious by the mind producing it. For those who feel it, nothing makes the soul more religious and pure.

For a long while these images prodded the mind of Chike Azuonye — images of an age of fiendish busyness; demonic unrest; widespread unrealness; seemingly featurelessness; and suffocating restrictiveness. But in the true nature of an artist, he sought to provide an escape, not only for himself but for the millions of humanity for which these images were realities.

His method to represent these concepts and their causes in paintings of aggressive, strong and fascinating brush-manship, reflective enough to make the souls of those who feel it, in the word of the legendary Italian Poet, painter and philosopher Michelangelo, "more religious and pure".

Chike, a graduate of painting of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and last month at the Enugu Press Centre assembled a package of paintings which he titled "The Offspring of the mind". It was his tenth exhibition and first solo outing. In all, 25 pieces of paintings were on display mostly done in oil on cardboard; four were in Watercolor; another four, in acrylic and one, in pastel on paper.

The collection was done in three categories — figurative, stylised (semi-distorted) and abstracts (completely distorted). Some of them reflect human sufferings and are forceful enough to compel the beholder to reflect on general human miseries. These were exemplified by "the beggar", "who is leading who?" and "indignity of labour". But the ruse of hiding agony and miseries in cultural flamboyance was represented by such works as "Ofala Festival," "Oti Igba" (the drummer), and "the maid."

However, the more curious and, in fact, fascinating works in the collection were those paintings which have touches of mysticism and spiritualism. Accordingly, the painter gave them such titles as "eternal search," "life," "symbol of sacrifice," "Death shall have no domination," "Mysterious edifice," "Spiritual atonement," Spiritual attainment", and "A song of hope".

These paintings were actually the result of the conflicting emotions of the painter himself, delivered in hard, strong, almost protesting pictures, that quite in contrast with their spiritualised themes, and represented the painter's selfish attempt to escape from all the restrictions and limitations which both nature and man had built around him.

This apparent contradiction seeks an explanation which can only be found in the painter himself. However, the fact of its existence has the potential for making Chike a majestic visionary, a seer and dreamer, the type of which this nation cries aloud for at a time like this. 'Another character worth noting about these works in question was their gruesomely horrifying abstraction.

When Artlife cornered Chike for an explanation since this singular factor could scare away prospective buyers, he straight-away asserted that he was not strictly a commercial painter. Chike said that his mission is to satisfy the cravings of as many different categories of people as possible.

He said that he could not tone down the intensity of the inner inspiration he translates on board because it was like distorting a prophetic message. "I find myself putting down every innate image and vision that comes to my mind whether they are horrible or happy ones. I don't just throw away my innate urgings because of its consequence on the people. Just as well, I know that there are some whom only such works of horror could give solace", he explained.

Chike further philosophised about his paintings; thus: "This is not selfishness, 'nor an attempt to achieve some kind of reclusion. I believe my paintings are inspired by ' some divine force and, not rendering them as I received them, would amount to distorting a message given by God".

That, he said, was why his paintings are in figures, semi-abstracts and abstracts. According to him, if people could not understand his striking and dazing abstractions, they would appreciate the more down-to-earth ones, some of which one must confess, were done in bold, solid and strong colours that give the painter's works sanguine effects.

All said, one would agree no less with Dr. Ola Oloidi of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, that Chike's entire works "show spiritual harmony between him (Chike), his works and his environment" while many of them "tap some sources of mystic experiences or beliefs".

Chike, the painter, poet and actor had participated in nine other exhibitions before this one. Two of the nine had been in Bayreuth, West Germany in 1985 and 1986; many, in Lagos, including the NYSC president's Merit Award Art Exhibition in 1987, and the rest in Anambra State. He recently completed his one year youth service and at present attached to the Anambra State Council for Arts and Culture, Enugu.