Young artists showcase talents in Outburst
By FOR Segun and Shade Fagorusi, Ayooluwa Akinrinola, Taofeek Abiodun Badru and Ayo Olamide Adesola, the opportunity provided by the Alliance Francaise, Ibadan, to showcase their artworks in the exhibition, Outburst, is one they will hold dear for a very long time.
The five, who specialises in different areas of the arts, used the opportunity of the exhibition to boost their profile, as well as showcase their works to a larger community of art lovers.
Speaking during the opening of the exhibition, the Director of the Alliance Francaise, Ibadan, Mr Nicholas Michelland, said it was part of the organisation’s policy to help in promoting arts in its host environment.
Mr Michelland said the Alliance Francaise decided to host the exhibition because the artists are young and they have a lot of stories to tell with their works.
The director said, “in fact, some of the artists had contested for different art exhibitions in the past, including Alliance Francaise’s Life in my City competition and won, and as such, they are experienced artists who will go places if given the platform to excel.
“This is what the Alliance Francaise is doing with the exhibition; we hope to continue to promote more artists, especially the younger ones, while providing them with the platform to showcase their talents,” Mr Michelland said.
One thing about the artists is that they are all graduates of Fine and Applied Arts from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
While Shade Fagorusi and Badru specialise in textile arts, Segun and Adesola specialise in paintings, while Akinrinola specialise in sculpture.
Most of their works reflect the happenings in the society, as well as the way of life of the people.
However, while those into paintings and textile are easily embraced by art lovers, Akinrinola said sculptors face the challenge of acceptance due to the wrong belief people have about their works.
Akinrinola said, “some people belief sculptures can easily be possessed by evil spirits, and as such, this prevents them from buying the artworks.
“I hope Nigerian art lovers can realise that sculptures are just works of arts, and there is no way they can be possessed by evil spirits.
“We should not allow certain belief systems come in the way of our love for sculptures,” Akinrinola said.
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