LONDON-based artists, Hassan Aliyu and Chike Azuonye, have held their second joint exhibition in the British capital.
Showcasing works from 15 years of production by both artists, the exhibition was titled Colours of Spring and displayed for almost two weeks. Text accompanying the show informed that both artists see spring as "synonymous with regeneration, aspiration and rebirth... a season of happiness and for celebration, following the dank and dull months of winter."
Symbolising as it does new life, bold beauty and colour, spring was perfect for the display of vibrant works intended to evoke the spirit of the season. On the first day of the exhibition, Aliyu and Azuonye treated gallery visitors to their contrasting artistic and personal styles, taking them on a tour of the works and discussing the thematic concerns and other circumstances that inspired them.
There were some 29 pieces altogether - displayed on two floors and a stairway of the Waterloo Gallery, London. Azuonye has taken part in numerous international exhibitions, and had his first joint show with Aliyu in 1994; the former is soft-spoken, in contrast to latter's more dramatic style.
The two have worked together since around 1991 when Aliyu, freshly returned to Britain from Nigeria, began working with the Caribbean Craft Circle.
According to him, the goal then was to create an engagement with black artists, for whom he became a contact point. "I realised that there was a need to vigorously convey the grandeur of our art," Aliyu said - and he is still striving for the same goal in his work.
Azuonye, whose work is represented in private collections in Nigeria, Europe and America, discussed some of his pieces on display in the Colours of Spring exhibition. A piece titled Talking Drum - and another of milkmaids - came from a series of sketches done by Azuonye in Kaduna. "What is exciting about them is that they were not painted in Nigeria." Not having returned to Nigeria for some two years and thinking how to keep himself busy, he started painting from the sketches. He has now run out of the sketches but the finished works held the interest of gallery visitors.
Faces, a series of three paintings by Azuonye, fall more on the side of introspection. Speaking on the second in the series, Faces II in the exhibition, the artist explained his philosophical approach to the producing the pieces. "I was asking myself, when I meet people, what do they think of me? I was looking into the interpersonal relationships... what is behind the smile?"
Whilst he would not describe himself as a suspicious person, these are nevertheless some of the questions he occasionally asks himself. "It's like my surname, Azuonye, which means: whose back is good?" He added that Faces II "had a place in this exhibition because it has a positive message as well, especially with the bright colours."
The presentational style of the opening event meant that Aliyu, blessed with a gift of the gab as well as a talent for visual art, talked through Azuonye's work as well as his own. As a result, guests were able to get both artists' impressions of The Dowry, a painting by Azuonye, which incorporates symbols like the manila, cowries, and other elements referencing the four working days in Igboland, amongst other things. Aliyu spoke exuberantly during discussions of his own works also. A painting, Unmasked (1998) was described as "arguably the best piece I've in the last 10 years - from a period when there wasn't any overt effort to produce work."
The period occasioned a lot of energy and the artist by his own admission tried to stretch the limits of his creativity. "The course was overpowering and therefore accelerated the dynamism of purpose," he reflected. "A good period is when I can produce work like this."
Another piece by Aliyu, The Head That Wears the Crown, sent the artist into dramatic, freewheeling oration. A painting of the same title, produced circa 1986, is at the National Gallery in Lagos. A "realistic work of superimposition," it is a portrait of former head of state General Ibrahim Babangida (IBB) superimposed on the issues the nation faced at the time, as perceived by the artist. The IBB painting is a big piece, whilst it's namesake in the Colours of Spring exhibition is smaller and depicts instead a milkmaid.
However, the message has always been the same one of optimism. "Out of the darkness and bleakness, the doom and gloom would come an experience of victory and triumph." Aliyu indicated that, beyond images of combat, strife and misery in the foreground, "every component of the painting is focused on the figuring of hope"- represented by the centre image of the radiant milkmaid. He was visibly passionate when discussing The Head That Wears the Crown. "The hope depicts a figuring who becomes a personification of identity, grandeur and dignity. It's not only a documentation of the plight of the people, but also a celebration," he declared.
Also at the Colours of Spring opening was batik artist, Bayo Lawal, who had helped organise Aliyu's first joint exhibition at the National Gallery in Lagos. Lawal now concentrates mainly on what he calls, Gospel Art. Asked if it is really art, he replied in the affirmative, saying: "Anything you do that is beautiful is art; a chef is an artist. In Gospel Art, I have to make artistic choices, whether in colours or lettering." He does not rule out returning to the "very unique" art of batiks. "To this day, if I see my work on people, I will still recognise it," he said with satisfaction.
Azuonye described his pieces more as "stylisations" than realistic. Both he and Aliyu work in pastels. There are differences in subject matter and in the use of colour, with Aliyu's touch being more subtle than Azuonye's stronger hues. However, there is a textural similarity in their works, and this culminated in the exhibition of very harmonising works around the theme of spring. And there was no better time for the exhibition, since it opened at the end of March - just as spring was beginning to arrive in London.