Orimoloye’s Ode to Nigerian Women

Rebecca Ejifoma 

                                                               As a seasoned contemporary artist,

Aso by Orimoloye

known for his abstract works and use of colours in the Art Scene with national and international exhibitions to his credit, one can easily enthuse that Gbenga Orimoloye has paid his dues and carved a niche for himself. Hence, his just concluded solo art exhibition, which ran from May 24 to 30 at the Terra Kulture Gallery in Victoria Island Lagos, brought about great art connoisseurs and art students from across the country.   

 The exhibition, titled, “Aso”, featured his 31 artistic pieces of paintings on canvas. According to the artist at the opening, he deliberate opted for a Yoruba word as his theme, because he liked the way the same word resounds many other meaning depending on how one uses it.

Orimoloye exuded the colourful and fascinating lifestyle of the Nigerian women, who dress up sprucely on uniform to occasions, home and abroad. His inspiration, he said, came from the Nigerian women he saw in a London programme, dressed in Aso ebi; all looking very glamorous, having titivated themselves with their makeup beads and igele.

“When I first came into contact with Orimoloye over 30 years ago in Ikoyi Lagos, neither of us knew I would one day be a great admirer of his talent and works, the Honourable Consul of Switzerland, Mrs. Marlies Allan, expounded, “he has a tenacious and audacious spirit. His commitment to his goal and dedication to his craft comes across when you encounter the quality of his works. His masterpieces exhibit his style, with vast amount of paint about wasteful at times.”

Known as a colourist in nature, the artist gathered works including “The Family” (123 X 82cm), “Aso” (123 X 82cm), “Elaja”, “Aso 2”, “the Family 1”, “Aso” – Rhapsodies in yellow, “Untitled” (122 X 61), “Contentment”, “Rhapsodies in Orange”, “Aso”− Rhapsodies in brown, “Boat boy with Blue and White Paddle” (82 X 62cm), “Aso” – Rhapsodies in colour, “The Trip”(82 X 62cm), “African Women at Work”, “Late Morning”, “Elegantly Dressed”, “Badagry Beach”, “A Quiet Place” (81 X 62cm), “Figure on a Red Background”, and “Untitled” (80 X 60) among others.

Although his works’ titles seem almost all one, his style – values, tradition and painting with many mixed colours is distinct and unique. It all encompasses his quest to pass his message of “Contentment” (polite enditement) that one needs to be contented with what one has. Viewers were impressed and right at the opening bought several works to his amazement.

According to him, these days, he deliberately begins many of his works without a preliminary sketch, because he is keen to leave some things to time – chance and the Spirit that creates. “As such, many of my compositions, including and especially the ‘Aso’ are the results of as much spontaneity as possible. Many of which bear my fingerprint.”

His recent solo exhibition at the Saffron Walden Gallery, United Kingdom in March 2014 depicted the rich culture of the people and ‘the inherent transient nature of the people alongside realities, which can stand as the allegories of life. His love and appreciation for mankind has paved his canvas, one of which is Aso.

However, from his visual streamline on Aso, Orimoloye pictures the identity of the Nigerian woman dressed in her gele and buba with all kinds of accessories to match. However his message of contentment he adores the elegance of the Nigerian women as he finds them glamorous and becoming.

In order to satiate his audience, Orimoloye, described as an artist who knows his onions, explained that this is like an encomium to the Nigerian woman, for her ever-green beauty and packaging. “In this harvest of work which I have titled, “Aso”, I look figuratively at our obsession with elaborate festive dressing.

Aso, Yoruba word for cloth, is also used colloquially as regards groups of people dressed in identical fabric and or colour, especially seen at a typical Nigerian wedding. As an artist, whose artist’s instincts tell him this is where he ought to be and the first fan of his own works, he says he is fascinated with the dressing, colours, textures and styles at many of these events. 

“A great deal goes into our dressing and into selection our Aso. I believe that if we could be as fervent and enthusiastic in many areas of our existence as we are with our dressing, our collective attitude will adorn us with majesty and excellence; we will be arrayed with glory and splendour,” he enthused.

Meanwhile, the artist had featured in 21 group and solo exhibitions including “Oju” and “Ona” at the Terra Kulture in 2013, “A Parent’s Eye View” at the Parabola Art Centre in England in 2012, “Africa at Whiteley’s” at the Atrium, Whiteley’s, London UK and the Exhibition of “Sculpture and Paintings” at Master Craft in Surulere Lagos in 1990.

Orimoloye, who bagged his HND and MSc from the Yaba College of Technology in Painting (1991) and from the University of Westminster, London (2003), is as well contented and dedicated to his craft as his full-time job.

An artist, who tries to produce whatever he lays his hands on, says ones talent alone is not enough; hence, one needs to work very hard. “I try to work very hard to unleash what is within,” he says. While art collectors like Ejiro Onobrakpeye, son of reputable Bruce Onobrakpeye and others lauded his works, they went round for a gaze at his works hung on the walls of Terra Kulture.