Onikan, Lagos — Rele Gallery’s exhibition 2016 Young Contemporaries lived up to its theme. The idea behind Rele Gallery’s inaugural exhibition for 2016 is to present, from their stable, the works of young talents who tackle social issues through art.
The art works displayed were photography by Logor Olumuyiwa; painting by Dipo Doherty; painting by Yadichinma Ukoha-Kalu; photography by Eloghosa Osunde; and mix media by Ayobola Kekere-Ekun.
One major take away from the exhibition which held on Sunday 10 January, is the reminder that art transcends Space and Time.
The exhibition took place within three sections. Upon entry spectators are introduced to Eloghosa Osunde’s photographs documenting the hustle and bustle of living in Lagos. Osunde’s pictures capture the poetry of that hustle in Obalende: a child hawking, a woman selling her wares in a market, clothes drying on a line. The pictures are colourful and distended, so that they look like a painting, a mix of impressionism and expressionism styles.
Next is a painting by Yadichinma Ukoha-Kalu. Ukoha-Kalu’s paintings are expressionistic. They make you work for the aesthetic delight we get when we experience any work of art.
Ayobola Kekere-Ekun work is a collage of ankara, paper, acrylic. The human face is a motif in all her works.
Dipo Doherty’s painting is probably the most contemporary of the lot. Doherty’s painting shows influence from robots, science fiction and culture.
And finally, photographs by Logor Olumuyiwa. Olumuyiwa’s pictures documents in black and white, decaying government buildings in Lagos, Third Mainland Bridge in perspective, and Bar Beach. His pictures makes you realise that even everyday things, like bridges and buildings, that are suffering from daily use or misuse can be exceedingly beautiful.
