Rebecca Ejifoma
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| Prof. Jegede |
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To art
aficionados and connoisseurs, he needs no introduction. His name is spelt
on almost all canvas. His crystal expressions pierce even the Olumo Rock. And
his art pieces splatter the walls of this world.
So,
the Chairman Local Organising Committee and Art Historian, Filani, reels to art
lovers all he knows.
His ode: ...A
Humanistic Interrogation of the Biography of a Sage
Prof.
Dele Jegede’s face is iconic. His mien is defined with immense dignity and his
demeanor is characterized by inimitable assertiveness. He may not be physically
massive, but he carries an air of poise and self-respect.
Attaining
the age of seventy does not betray any physical fitness. In spite of the slight
furrows on his forehead and the deepening lines etched on both sides of his
upper lips, Prof Jegede’s face remains robust.
The
thick dark hair on his head contrasts sharply with the bushy white beards that
delineate his sagacious visage. Each strand of his gray beards mirrors years of
dynamic assiduity, scholarship and creativity. Dele Jegede’s introspective
looks epitomizes remarkable erudition, affective profundity and technical
dexterity.
In
order to contextualize his genius, his biography will be interrogated, thereby
revealing reasons behind the success of the sage. Born in 1945 in Ikere-Ekiti
in Ekiti State of Nigeria, Jegede is one of the reputablescholars that
emerged from the ancient town notable for many significant hills.
Indigenes
of Ikere-Ekiti are appraised as Omo Oloke Meji tako tabo. This is in reference to two
enormous hillsknown as Orole and Olosunta whose magnificence serves as
landmark for the agrarian community.
The
two hills are mythically personified as male and female; thereby lending credence
to the humanistic philosophy that defines reality by two opposing principles.
Africans in particular uphold this philosophy in order to create social and
spiritual balance.
The
concept of dualism recognizes the delicate balance between life and death, good
and evil, day and night, right and wrong, male and female among other
uncountable social, moral, religious, political and economic choices we make
daily.
Interestingly,
Jegede seems to construct and reconstruct his perception of life on the
interrogation of these opposing principles. Whereas he often aspires towards
the utopia in his art and scholarship, he, nevertheless, depicts this by decrying
the ills of the society.
For
example, in an attempt to promote social equity and demand for the dividends of
democracy in Nigeria, he held an exhibition titled Paradise Battered in 1986. Semantically
speaking, Paradise connotes the utopia, but Dele Jagged
conceptually created an impression of chaos and disorderliness by adding the
word battered in order to admonish the societal
ills.
Jegede and Niyi Osundare are both indigenes of Ikere-Ekiti, and they are
acclaimed wordsmiths. Prof. Niyi Osundare is an award winning poet and scholar
whose splendid cultural verses resonate all over the literary spaces. Dele
Jegede as a visual artist does not only draw and paint with unusual formal candour;
his numerous scholarly publications are marked by rhythmical prose.
He
employs poetic devices of assonance and alliteration in order to maximize
critical reflections in art. Typical of his formal and thematic articulation of
human existence is the poem written in 2013 during a healing process after
suffering a great loss. The effusion of passion in the verses is so emphatic
that a reflective reader becomes schooled in stoicism.
The
appropriation of the childhood memories and the communal perception of Orole and Olosunta hills seem to serve as
poetic metaphor for both Jegede and Osundare. Both are very critical
of the societies they lived in, and often lampoon the Nigerian system in order
to accelerate a more socially and economically balanced nation.
He attended the famous Yaba College of Technology, Yaba-Lagos, Nigeria in
the late sixties and later earned his Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria in 1973. He bagged a First Class
Honours and won many prizes, therefore attesting to his studiousness and
brilliance. He immediately joined some of the hardworking art graduates of the
Zaria School who obtained their degrees in the 1970s to form the nucleus of
what could be referred to as the second generation of Zarian artists.
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| Jegede's 'African Dancer' |
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Notable
among his contemporaries are the late Sina Yusuf, his close friend Kolade
Oshinnowo, David Dale, late Gani Odutokun and Joshua Akande among few others.
Most of their works in the 1970s and even till now are naturalistic with
varying degrees of stylization. They schooled in the post-independence era when
Nigerians werestill celebrating the crude oil boom.
They
therefore embraced joyous and profane themes rendered with remarkable graphic
and painterly skills. However, Jegede was more critical of the Nigerian
society using the outlets offered by the various newspapers he worked to create
cartoon strips such as Flower Power (1979-1986) and Kole the Menace (1984– 1989).
The two major
characters, Bobby in Flower Power and Kole Omole in Kole the Menace were cast as precocious
children who parodied the systemic failures of the Nigerian state during the
military dictatorship.
The
objectification of children to satirize the state of the nation was
intentional. Jegede used cartooning to play down the acerbic criticism of
the ferocious dictators. The funny juvenile characters of Bobby and Kole lightened
the otherwise ‘subversive’ content of the strips. The fluidity of lines and the
rapidity of the pen drawing of the cartoon drawings cast Dele Jegede among the
greatest draughtsmen in Nigeria.
By
1986 when Jegede exhibited Paradise Battered, he declared a revolutionary
manifesto to uphold nothing else but social and political activism using
radicalism as the expressive content of his art. He therefore elevated his
artistic offerings beyond formal aesthetics to nuanced thematic orientation. He explored issues that were problematic with the government and the
Nigerian people by highlighting the despicable aspects of national realities.
The
metropolitan city of Lagos became his constantly referenced metaphor for the
emergent negative urbane characteristics, attitudes and values. He illustrated
figures in comical forms while contextualizing the systemic rot within the
society. His excellent skills in draughtsmanship afforded him to break the rule
of proportion. He often elongated the human figures and cast images in carefree
and open ended compositions. The titles of his works and even exhibitions
parodies the popular grammatical verbal and vocal lingo often found in the
expressive culture of Lagos city.
Jegede did not only consolidate himself as a respectable modernist artist in
Nigeria, he also pursued scholarship by obtaining his master’s degree and PhD
in Art History at the Indiana University, U.S.A in 1981 and1983 respectively.
Roy Sieber, an erudite professor of African art supervised his PhD project. His
thesis in 1983 was, perhaps, the first on contemporary Nigerian Art. He has
since published numerous well researched articles on African art history and on
African Diaspora art history especially when he eventually relocated to the
United States of America.
Between
1989 and 1992, Jegede became the president of the Society of Nigerian
Artists (SNA) succeeding Prof. Solomon Wangboje. His proactive administrative
skill is still admired up till date by the members. He ensured the official
registration of SNA with the Corporate Affairs Commission and strategically
carried out far reaching reforms in the organization.
During
his brief stay in Nigeria after obtaining a doctorate, he lectured at Yaba
College of Technology, Yaba and while at the University of Lagos, he became
the Director, Centre for Cultural Studies between 1989 and 1992. His dynamism
opened up discussions on the eventual creation of the Department of Creative
Arts a few years after he left.
His
sojourn in the United States of America witnessed a booming career in
academics. His focus of research and teaching was in African art history and
African American Art history. He demonstrated excellent intellect while
occupying professional chairs at Spelman College, Atlanta, Indiana State
University, Terre Haute and Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.
He
researched on migrant and dual identity while enunciating diasporic conflicts.
He cushioned the dilemma of relocation which often results into what Cornelius
Adepegba called “Split Identity” by constantly coming back to his roots to
support local artistic and cultural programmes.
He
straddles the physical and virtual borders of creative, curatorial and academic
spaces of local and international territories by sheer audacity and
intellectualism. He debunked the jaundiced historical narratives of some Western
scholars that depicted African art and culture both at home and in Diaspora as
primitive and inferior to the Europeans. He reconstructed art historical
narratives that critically theorized the fecundity of African cultural
practices and established a dynamic kinship with the black migrants and the Diaspora.
His
writings like his paintings are expressively passionate without violating the
sensibilities of others. He equally promoted the image of the artist, and
indeed that of the African as a cerebral and mottled individual who knows his
onions in the global vision of contemporary society. He successfully chaired
many international associations and academic Boards.
Behind
every successful man, there is a woman who stands as pillar of encouragement
and support. Dele Jegede once describe his wife Joke as “my vociferous
supporter, critic, friend and wife”. Dele Jegede’s diverse and productive life
is no doubt as a result of the enormous support given by his family, relations,
friends and colleagues.
In
spite of his great achievements, he remains humble. He profusely appreciates
minor gestures of support and due respect given by admirers. His sense of
humour belies his underlying astringent social comments and expressive temper
whenever things are not properly done. Dele Jegede’s handwriting is
calligraphic and he writes his name in minuscule letters.
This
sage deserves to be celebrated at 70. May he live more numerous and fertile
years to the benefit of humanity.
Saturday, August 8, to keep the minds abuzz on updates in their world.
