Race Against Time- Abbas Prints

For an unprecedented five-month long, Abbas showed the works as If I Could Save Time, at the Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA), Lagos. Basically inspired by his upbringing in a family of printing press profession, the body of work pushes Abbas further into the realm of non-regular or traditional form of visual expressionism.

Formerly scheduled to end few weeks ago after its opening last November, but an extension afforded me an opportunity to see the artist in his radical conceptual of portraiture themes. But Abbas, from the entry point of his career, has established a profound signature in realism painting.

On a mid-day visit, the quietness of the gallery – except for the presence of the artist and two of his colleagues – radiates an aura that connects with the periodic contents of the exhibits. An aged-colour paper, that inscribes Abbas’ statement; old letterpress box containing pieces of metals that depict the extinct printing process; and a large size monochrome painting produced through stamping technique, all on the right side of the CCA gallery assert Art as a fulcrum on which science and technology are lifted.

And in what looks like an object from a museum comes the letterpress box, which brings a reflection onto that forgotten world of printing. To reflect on the fact that hundreds or millions of words, in a given publication always went through the tedious manual arrangement of letters as the box displays in this exhibition, is amazing.

For the artist, it’s a family business, in which he grew up to become who he is today. “From age 4-6, my dad always taught us the mastery of placing letters and numbers,” in the letterpress process, Abbas recalls.

In bringing the past to impact on contemporary creation of art, Abbas’ application of the old and manual numbering tool generates a mural-like portraiture. In fact, the group portrait gives semblance of a re-produced, old monochrome photograph enlarged to mural size. But the work is a painting produced by the artist in the displayed size. “It was produced by stamping the numbering machine to create the images,” he discloses.

Compartmented in plexiglass, the huge portraits – two of them, each at extreme ends of the gallery- tell two basic stories about social textures of the past and an artist’s introspection in contemporaneity.

The two portraits are reproduced by the artist, painterly, from old black and white group pictures that reflect communal characters of the past, in professional field, in this case, among printing workers. For those who know Abbas’ antecedence in traditional process of creating art, there is no argument that he has established a realism behaviour at the point of entry into his career late part of last decade. Introspectively, his skill in realism, which comes as a vital medium for the stamping technique confirms the common argument about ‘knowing the rules before breaking it.’ In If I Could Save Time, Abbas’ techiques and forms collapse the barriers and as well as blur the lines between modern and contemporary art divides. Specifically, he brings ‘Time’ as a vital slippery subject that differentiates development between two centuries, spanning over 50 years when art and science complement the other.

This much oozes as one moves further, viewing other works on display, particularly the wall hanging of letterpress boxes. Sculptural, they are, but “have been preserved.” The compartmented boxes, which houses small cut-outs of portraits and sometimes provide depth, also create what looks like triptych form. Again, Time resonates with art and technology as the pictures, were scanned copies of printed materials retrieved from decades-old archives.

Among such abstracts of Time that perhaps, could not be saved or rescued is the fact that art and science, via photography, coalesced in such a rapid pace from black and white to sepia, then full colour, as well as chemicalised/mechanised to digital/electronic in image processing.

In her curatorial note, Bisi Silva, director at CCA Lagos writes that “As time unfolds, repeating itself in a continuous swirl, Abass uses technology- the printing press as metaphor to negotiate and even to bypass obsolescence, bringing it into existence in new ways.”

Fragile Diaspora Art Market Challenge For Africa-Based Artists

From the record sale of a painting by late expressionist painter, Jean-Michel Basquiat; to the magical rise in Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s art market value; and performance of over 78 lots sold at Sotheby’s debut art auction of modern and Contemporary African art, the dynamics of art market has exposed a frightened fragility of most artists based in Africa.

For artists of African descents, these three separate sales provide a possible categorisation of who sells what, not necessarily based on critical evaluation. Apart from Ghanaian, El Anatsui, it seemed that art value of most African artist based at home, is not insulated from the geographical barrier that has hounded great talents who practice outside the powerful economies of Europe and the U.S.

Whoever believed that art was the only opportunity where creative professionals of Africa base could excel at fair or similar level with their counterparts from anywhere in the world should better start reviewing such argument. It could be illusory, so suggests the three sales that happened in the past few months. Indeed, an artist in Africa does not require sophistication of tools that African sportsmen, scientists and other professionals who run to the west to lift their skills. Art, like any other creative products is intellectually driven.

Critical evaluation of an artist’s works over a reasonable period of time, strengthen the market value of such artist, so the norms have forced down the psyche of art followers over the centuries. Great; agreed. From 1988 when Basquiat died at the age of 27 till date is quite a while for his works to have generated the much needed critical valuation energy that distilled into $110.5m (£85m) in New York, recently. Yes, quite in line with the theory of art market. But the phenomenal and magical rise of Akunyili is as much a joy to Africans as it is also a source of worry to some of us. In less than five years post-competition that exposed her work, Akunyili most likely could be a case study in unprecedented art market value.

It is no longer news that she has done it again. She has defied tradition. Akunyili, b. 1983 has a new auction record with her 2012 work The Beautiful Ones, sold for £2.1 million (hammer price) or buyer’s premium of £2.5 million ($3.1 million).

The unprecedented rise – for any African diaspora artist – in sales of Akunyili’s works, in real art market context would keep cconnoisseurs, aficionados and others in the business of art, scratching their head for quite a while. When the artist’s performance strayed into the discussion of a close associate of Victoria Miro Gallery and I at the last Art Dubai, in UAE, it was disclosed that the gallery “was embarrassed” by the magical rise of her work at auction.

In 2014, The Smithsonian American Art Museum announced Akunyili as the 2014 winner of its James Dicke Contemporary Artist Prize. The panel of jurors recognized her paintings as “bold yet intimate” but described the works as “among the most visually, conceptually and technically exciting work being made today.” She was the 11th winner of the $25,000 award dedicated to an artist younger than 50.

Over two months after Akunyili recorded £2.1m at the said auction in London, 80 artists of combined modern and contemporary divides struggled to sell £2,794,750 (about $3,600,000) for 79 lots sold out of a total 116 displayed for sales, in the same city.

I think the evolving African art market is showing signs of more unexplained yardstick than the mystery of art world in general. It’s a fragile prospect for African artists who practice from the continent.

Basquiat who died in 1988 was an artist for just seven years of his life. Having reached the $100m mark, Basquiat now holds the record of the most expensive at auction by any US artist, with “Untitled”, a 1982 work in oil stick, acrylic and spray paint. The painting depicts a face shaped in skull form.

At this current period of what looks like a new dawn for African art market, the indices are clearly being set not to favour outlets and artists who have no links to European or American promotion or representation. Another Akunyili is not likely to emerge from any of the artists sold at the London auction or others whose works already have a known value in Africa. For example, it is an uphill task for any of the powerful art galleries in Europe to represent an artist whose work already has a market value below a perceived expectation. It is doubtful, for example, if Akunyili could have been pushed by Miro if she already had a market value in any part of Africa.

By implications and challenge, art galleries and auction houses that are based in Africa would need to expand their scope into the European and American market. Art should not end up like football; artists all over the world have similar potentials, sports professionals don’t. It is understandable why footballers who play in Africa cannot produce similar skills of Cristiano Ronaldo or Nwankwo Kanu. But I do not think the Basquiat’s painting and his work in general are out of reach for any artist in Africa to produce and get whatever critical review necessary. Perception as the real energy that drives the art market world is the difference. Art outlets in Africa would remain shut out of the perception game except there is a change of doing business.

Journey To Egypt Teaches Patience And Determination

In present day Nigeria where many young people believe that travelling outside the country is their ticket to a successful life even without a clear vision of what awaits them, produce of Journey to Egypt and Assistant General Overseer, Administration and Personnel, The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Johnson Odesola, teaches some hard lessons and proffers some advice to those who share this believe.

He tells the twisted story of Richard, who, in search of greener pastures, embarks on a journey that ends in doom. Accompanied by his friend, Femi, little did Richard know that he was heading for destruction. While abroad, he forgot his mother’s advice about actions that could ruin his life. On getting there, he threw caution to the wind and embarked on contract wedding. Luck, however, ran out on him and he is arrested alongside his ‘wife’ on their wedding day and sent to prison.

Odesola stated, “It is a story of a direct compromise in the name of looking for greener pastures. It is exclusively for the youths. The lesson in the movie is that what you are looking for in London is in Lagos. Similarly, Mrs. Odesola Said, “The story is about a man that went abroad, did contract marriage, and he failed there and then and came back home. You don’t need to go elsewhere; you can still be in your country and be successful.

“Sin is number one thing that hinders success or breakthroughs in life. We have seen situations whereby men who are happily married in Nigeria will leave their wives, children and aged parents and go abroad to do contract marriage, but that doesn’t guarantee their success over there. My advice to these kinds of people is that they should stay wherever God has placed them and with the fear of the Lord.”

Odesola also stated, “The Lord reminded me, when I asked how I can impact youths, the ministry of writing drama that he gave me some years ago. We are also working on more movies. In the month of May, we are going to two locations.”

First Class Coffin To Heaven

People have been known to try to bury their loved ones in such expensive things as gold-plated or other 'funky' coffins. A young man recently shared pictures of one of his hand-crafted creations, an aeroplane-shaped coffin.

The coffin even had windows and tyres like that of a real plane. Would you love to fly first class to heaven? LOL

See photos below;

Jeff Koons Unveils Latest Works 'Seated Ballerina'- Forbes

Jeff Koons has unveiled his latest work for Rockefeller Center — the 45-ft. 'Seated Ballerina'. The new piece is the third work the artist has crafted for the New York City landmark and was made in partnership with Kiehl's and the Art Production Fund to bring awareness to National Missing Children’s Month and the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children.

Jeffrey "Jeff" Koons is an American artist known for working with popular culture subjects and his reproductions of banal objects—such as balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror-finish surfaces.

Forbes has taken to featuring him in their recent post on Instagram.

See post below;

Jeff Koons has unveiled his latest work for Rockefeller Center — the 45-ft. 'Seated Ballerina'. The new piece is the third work the artist has crafted for the New York City landmark and was made in partnership with Kiehl's and the Art Production Fund to bring awareness to National Missing Children’s Month and the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children.

A post shared by Forbes (@forbes) on May 15, 2017 at 7:55pm PDT