At Afro-Artbeat, Fela lives, dazzles again

Renowned album coverdesigner, LemiGhariokwu, honours his friend with an exhibition in Lagos. Lemi Ghariokwu confirmed his rating as Nigeria’s foremost cover designer on Saturday, October 21 with his solo exhibition, Afro-Artbeat.

Held at the African Artists Foundation (AAF), Victoria Island, Lagos in conjunction with the Temple Management Company (TMC), the show was in honour of Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, who passed on 20 years ago and with whom the artist had a close relationship.

Viewing the different covers of Fela’s albums on display was nostalgic for a number of the older guests who knew when they were released, while the younger ones were clearly excited. They (youth) not only feasted their eyes on the works, they sought photo opportunities with the artist while seeking clarifications about some ofthe works.

The arrangement of the exhibits was well thought through with three main sections. The original vinyl albums with their covers were displayed in a section with miniature prints on the opposite wall for those who couldn’t afford the original. Therewere also originals re-commissioned as wall art,with four new works the artist simply called Lemi had done in the main hall.

Curiously, the four new works were untitled but that didn’t detract from the care that went into their making or the unique talents of Lemi, a self-trained artist who keeps experimenting with various styles. One of the works, for instance, is a collage with Fela, only in his underpants and playing his saxophone painted on acrylic on canvas which is then cut and pasted on an aluminium board. There was also the painting with Fela, smiling beatifically, in his trademark black power salute.

Despite some being almost 40 years old, the select originals, including Yellow Fever, Zombie, Alagbon Close and Beast of no Nation remain striking. The cover of Yellow Fever, a song in which Fela condemns the practice of bleaching, features a bare-chested lady with blemishes on her face to highlight the effect of bleaching on the skin.

Zombie, Fela’s caustic take on the military and their traditions, also remains evergreen even if it’s a collage of photos showing soldiers and the maverick artist fully clothed appearing to stress a point to an audience. He can in fact be said to be calling the soldiers zombies!

‘Wow! God damn it’

But aside celebrating Fela with the art works, the exhibition also afforded Lemi the opportunity to relive shared moments with Fela, especially how the friendship began. In a talk he gave guests,  the artist dubbed ‘King of Covers’ by the UK’s The Observer Music Magazine in 2004, explained that himself and Fela were predestined to meet in 1974.

Lemi disclosed that he lived with his parents beside a beer parlour owned by a man called Odyssey. Aware that the young boydraws portraits for people, Odyssey commissioned him to do a poster of the late Bruce Lee whose  Enter the Dragon had just been released for his pub.

Fela had, at about this time, also released Roforofo Fight and Lemi, following a friend’s urging,  had done his own version of the cover, showing Fela dancing on mud.

Mr Babatunde Harrison, a journalist with Sunday PUNCH and patron of Odyssey’s pub, came not long thereafter and saw the Bruce Lee poster.

According to Lemi, “He asked who did this and they said it’s one small boy. He was surprised and said he wanted to see me. He came and asked to see my other works. He saw the Fela cover and said, can you do album covers? I answered in the affirmative. He said two days ago, Fela and I were discussing ideas about his cover art. I looked at him, I felt he was drunk, I didn’t believe. He said he was going to bring a picture of Fela from the Punch newspaper for me to do a portrait because he had also heard that I’m a portrait artist.

“I did the portrait and he took it to Fela.  When I saw Fela; that was the first time I saw him, I was quite nervous. Fela saw the portrait and he said, ‘wow, God damn it’! It was the first time I heard those words. He was so excited; he brought out his cheque book and wrote out a cheque of N120 for me but my spirit said no.  I gave him back the cheque. I said Fela, I give you from the bottom of my heart. That shocked him.

“From an exercise book, he tore a sheet and wrote, ‘Please admit bearer, any show’ I just collected it and that was my visa to Kalakuta. It was later that people told me that [note] was very special. Fela used to have four shows a week: Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Normally, he would have given me a pass for just a show but he gave me one for all shows.

“That was how the relationship started. A couple of weeks later, the police raided Kalakuta and he was hospitalised. His older brother, Professor Olikoye Ransome-Kuti was head of LUTH, so Fela was there. When I saw Babatunde Harrison, I said Uncle, how is Fela? He said he’s ok but in the hospital. He said he was going to see him, so I followed him. We got there, Fela was in a private ward, he had a bandage on his head; his skull was cracked. We started moving towards the bed so he could see us because the crowd was much. Eventually he saw Tunde who then pointed at me. He looked at me and said, ‘The Artist.’ Everybody in the room just looked at me, who is this small boy?

“Fela then said he would electrify the barb wire in his house so that next time the police come, it will shock them. He also said when ‘I comot from the hospital, I go write song, I go yab them.’ So, that was my first cover. He recorded Alagbon Close and I did the cover. If you look at Alagbon Close, I used metaphysics to illustrate the victory of good over evil.”

That was how the artist, designer of over 2000 album covers, came by his practice of not illustrating Fela’s albums literarily, but doing so from his own perspective.  The songs, however, always remained the foundation.

Lemi’s take-away for his audience was the timelessness of Fela’s messages: “All Fela said 40 years ago are playing back in 3D and though people are often quick to criticise him, the most important thing is look at the message, not the messenger.”