Anita Cudjoe
Ms. Anita Cudjoe is the only artist working with rice sacks as a medium.
During her first degree at the Takoradi Technical University, she became interested in recycling and was inspired to use rice sacks as a medium for her artwork.
In the course of her career, her motifs have changed from pictures of marketplaces to motifs of people wrapped in plastic, either partly covered or almost wrapped in glittering plastic placed in dark, grey, or white contrasts.
In her earlier works, there are references to a female sensibility for the craft techniques used in quilts and blankets. In her latest works, the plastic is not observed from a distance as a decorative mosaic but is wrapping around people’s bodies, or totally covering a person. It is not just integrated into the arms and hands of a figure, a symbol of strength, but it is embracing us all; it is a part of us.
Through her work, she desires to tell the unpleasant stories of society because she believes that these form an integral part of the realities of our contemporary society and social life.
Sotonye Jumbo
For Sotonye Jones, art is multicultural and trans-dimensional.
Predominantly, his canvas works are a balanced representation of the possibilities when humanity meets extraterrestrials. The subject is often a sophisticated half-jovian, part-person mostly styled in human clothing, sometimes executing household tasks or just gazing at the onlooker in a cool, funky pose.
His creations are a welcome diversion from the mainstream art world and often require closer attention to decipher.
He was an intern at the Bruce Onobrakpeya Art Foundation in 2020 and in 2018, an NYSC corp member attached to the Omooba Yemisi Adedoyin Shyllon Art Foundation. Also in 2018, he was selected alongside Anthonia Nneji and Omofemi Oluwole, among others as part of the pioneering TOP TEN finalists of the Next of Kin art competition and exhibition by Thought Pyramid Art Centre.
Adeola Balogun, Ph.D
For Adeola Balogun, transforming the mundane and abandoned into objects of remarkable objects is an everyday affair.
He is a prolific contemporary Nigerian artist who is reputed for his prowess in manipulating sculpture mediums. However, his artistry extends to other regions of the visual arts as he has an uncanny ability to transform recycled products and imbue them with multiple meanings.
A recurrent theme in his work is the up-cycling of e-wastes (electronic panels) which he uses as a universal metaphor to interrogate the notion of technology and transformation. These are used through their characteristic of being integral components in technology, either in two or three dimensions.
Over the years, Balogun has carefully nurtured a reputation for himself as a sculptor who animates his material with an eye for fluidity. This is a fluidity that brings to life items of daily use which may seem to have fallen into disuse but is revived by the artist’s wish to make them stand again and speak in that way in which sculptural art, for all its fixity, is able to speak to our imagination. It is a fluidity that engages in a critical conversation with the condition of society, utilizing objects from our everyday existence to make comments on issues of our daily experience.
His creative trajectory straddles diverse mediums, techniques and concepts in sifting and espousing the essence and the crystallization of his subject. Recurring in his creative explorations is the up-cycling of e-wastes (electronic panels). These are engaged through their characteristic of being integral components in technology, either in two or three dimensions. Adeola applies electronic as a universal metaphor to interrogate the notion of technology and transformation.
In 2022, he staged his 13th solo exhibition, themed: Transmogrification. Other exhibitions include:
Current Rhythm, CAMAA (2019)
Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, Tribute to Fela (2019)
Galleri Astley, Uttersberg, Sweden, Bubbles of Emotion (2017)
The prolific visual artist combines a fully engaged studio practice with an academic career at Nigeria’s premier tertiary institution, the Yaba College of Technology. In the course of his illustrious career, he has won several awards, including:
Plaque of Appreciation and Award of Recognition, 2018 and 2019 respectively by Cornelius Adepegba Museum of African Studies, University of Ibadan.
Distinguished Master Artist (2015) by the Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA)
Some of his selected public commissioned works include
the late Michael Ibru statue (bronze, 2017), at Michael & Cecilia Bru University, Delta State
the late Ayangburen of Ikorodu statue (2015), Ikorodu, Lagos
Obafemi Awolowo (19ft) statue, formally at Allen round-about, Ikeja
Funso Williams bronze statue (18ft), at Western Avenue round-about
He has participated in several seminars and conferences both within and beyond the shores of Nigeria. He also has contributed to journal publications. He has facilitated and/or participated in several creative workshops such as Quintessence Nigeria Limited/ Galleri Astley Residency (2013, 2015, 2019), Sweden and First Upcycling (2014), Art Hub, Abu Dhabi, UAE, Harmattan Workshop, Nigeria, and others.
A large body of Balogun’s life-size bronze sculpture and tyre works can be found in the OYASAF collection, a private art foundation, established by Omooba Yemisi Shyllon.
Abinoro Akporode Collins
In the world of Abinoro Akporode Collins, cutlery is a masterpiece in the making.
The Delta-born painter and sculptor is a prolific creative artist who does not fail to draw the visitor's gaze to deep problems through his paintings, inspired by his daily environment.
However, it is in sculpture that he reveals the different facets of his talent, creating masterpieces from table cutlery. Animals, human faces, and bodies in motion or frozen for eternity, his sculptures surprise and delight with the accuracy of the forms, the intensity of the facial expressions and their dimension that ranges from miniature to mega sculpture.
He has participated in several exhibitions in Nigeria where he resides. His first solo exhibition "RAP TURED" in 2019 at OM Private Gallery in Lagos Nigeria was a revelation. Collins has also exhibited in the UAE as part of two events, including African Art Month in Abu Dhabi in 2013. His works were also exhibited at the Abu Dhabi International Art Fair in 2014. He has also exhibited his works as part of a group in the United States.
He believes in using his art to reflect the different facets of the human soul and promote his values that derive their source from the laws of nature, including peace.