REVIEW: Gbolahan Olanipekun and His Art

By Chuu Krydz Ikwuemesi

If I begin by saying that Gbolahan Olanipekun is a self-taught artist, I would stir the controversy often surrounding that term. Is any artist self-taught? Or should we take the middle course offered by “formally” and “non-formally” trained artist? But the exciting reality about Olanipekun is that he did not study art in the university.

At Ekiti State University where he attended between 2011 and 2017, he majored in Accounting Education. His artistry can be said to derive from the biological essence of art, as argued by Ellen Dissanayake. However, if art as a biological prior is a common quality of the human species, not many who are not formally trained in art are able to invoke, harness and exploit that quality on a sustained scale.

The present exhibition is thus a testament to Olanipekun’s creative industry and artistic adventure. Using photography and digital darkroom as his principal media, he has developed a way of making profound graphic statements with everyday unprofound objects and forms. A look at some of the works in the present collection vividly betrays his compositional skills and his capacity to use his forms to generate eclectic meanings that reflect aspects of living and society.

It seems that many of Olanipekun’s works derive their form and content form a deep-seated interest in culture, heritage and identity. His Echoes of the Drum, for instance, evokes memories of tradition where the drum remains a medium of communication as well as a notable musical instrument across different world cultures.

Another work, Natures Flow, captures, through a kaleidoscopic female figure, the nobility of the female human body and the beauty of nature. This interest in the noble nude is further explored in Midnight Muse and Undiluted Love where the body is celebrated, not just for its own sake, but as a tableau on which multifarious issues about culture, marriage and other subjects could be addressed. Also, with regard to the aesthetic power and value of nature, we are confronted with The Optimist, not only as an allusion to human and natural resources and the potentials they usually hold for economic advancement, but also as evocation of hope through the calm waters and sublime sky scape.

Away from the above group, Heritage Unveiled and Fierce Woman evoke a variety of meaning. Apart from issues in identity, they also hint at femininity (or is it feminism, especially as regards Fierce Woman?) and the undeniable import of the female essence in the scheme of existence. Not only that. Olanipekun also envisions those pieces as odes “to the women who have fought for change and continue to inspire others” in our society.

Another work, Redemption, captures the eternal struggle of the human person in the trajectory of life often peopled with ups and downs, hopes and impediments. Between the binary experience, the space in between is also alluded to, the place where courage and desire can dismantle despondency and cause a triumph of the human spirit. This work’s relevance to contemporary Nigeria cannot be overlooked as the country has become a battle ground for hope and despair, the have and the have-not, a battle fueled and sustained by bread-and-butter leaders (or dealers?) in order to perpetuate their hold on power and the attendant strangulating grip on the population. This work seems to be complemented by Oju Aye (The Eye of the World) which references the constancy of truth, the dynamics of power and the unseen divine forces that sustain the universe and its eternal essences.

The above works and others easily image the artist as a deep thinker and one able to give form and meaning to his dreams, thought and imagination through this media, his materials and the resulting materiality. He is not a miserable hand-to-mouth artist, but one who is imbued with an immense vision and the ability to share that vision with his audience through the endless possibilities in photography.

Chuu Krydz Ikwuemesi is Professor of Painting and African Art History.

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