By JAPHET ALAKAM & PRISCA SAM-DURU
In what could be described as the return of the master, Tola Wewe a founding member of the Ona movement whose works have been acclaimed for their originality, simplicity, surface texture and mastery of colours announced his come back after being away for three years as a result of his appointment as a commissioner in Ondo  State, with a solo exhibition titled, Footnotes- an exhibition of paintings and terracotta pieces.

The return of our mother , one of the works exhibited

The week long exhibition which was in collaboration with AAF, and sponsored by Etisalat Nigeria, was attended by many art collectors and lovers. It opened on December 3rd and ended on December 10th at the famous Nike Art Gallery, Lekki, Lagos.

The exhibition which featured about 43 captivating and refreshing works, 19 terracotta pieces and 24 paintings in diverse medium , lived up to its billing as it showed the strength and character that make Onaism so unique.

A look at the works displayed showed the artistic ingenuity of the master, the originality and excellent use of colours which is an indication that an old woman can never be tired in the dance she knew.

Another issue that engaged the mind of art writers was  how he managed to come up with such number of works in such a short period since he just left office, but this Tola revealed,  is no big deal for him as he can produce works at all times.

Some of the works  captured part of of his experiences in politics, his day to day encounter, the environment and others. They include: Dance in the sun, Taiwo ati Kehinde, Forest of colours, Victims on e-scan, While waiting for the arrival of Mr Governor, Twins, The Return of our mother, Marriage of the Gods, Ladies of the Night Wind and others.

The piece, While waiting for the arrival of Mr Governor ,  that depicts women dancing in the sun while waiting for the arrival of the governor is a narrative of his experience in politics while The return of  our mother, gives an account of his experience in the wake of his mother’s ordeal in the hands of kidnappers  and others.

On the reason for the title Footnotes , Tola said “for like three years, I have been away partially from the art, I strayed into politics and since I am coming back to the art, I just feel that I should revisit all the various styles I have gone through in art. Not only styles, but also themes and experiments that I have gone through so that is why I refer to them as Footnotes or references ”

From another point of view, he pointed out that there are people who feel that Tola Wewe has changed in his style which they do not appreciate but he corrected that he wants to let them know through the exhibition that he has not changed.

On his foray into politics and how it affected his art,  Tola said that he went into politics on appointment and that while he was there he was still in touch with arts, but now that the job is over he has come back to his constituency which is art.

On this, Tola has a word for the government, according to him for the Nigerian democracy to move forward, there is need for the appointment of professionals into politics who will relinquish power as soon as their appointments are over without seeing  it as a do or die affair as is the case today.