By Prisca Sam-Duru

Brilliant colours, beautiful ambiance, simplicity of orms and captivating digital photographs are some of the defining features that are bound to affect the imaginative responses of viewers as they savour the works on display at the Studio of Mode, an art gallery located inside Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Modebolu Aderinokun

The gallery, which is due to open for business from June 14, houses the exceptional works of Modebolu Aderinokun, an emerging artist whose love for colours and experimentation is likely to revolutionize the visual art circuit in the country.   Trained in the art of animation and motion picture special effect (SFX), at the Academy of Art University, San Francisco, the United States, Mode says she finds stronger expression in visual arts.

According to her, she is deeply inspired by creation and creating things. She believes that in order to attain fulfilment, one must create something that enriches the lives of others. “When something that fills a void is created, society becomes healthier,” she said. Modé also believes that one must search deep within, to create something unique. A guided tour of her gallery earlier in the week reveals, nothing but her resolve to situate art as part of our everyday living.

Divided into various sections such as Indigo, Abeokuta and Lagos, the gallery itself is a master piece. On display are some of Mode’s latest collections ranging from digital photographs to mixed-media works and drawings. It is best described as a place where creativity connects and integrates into modern day society in an expressive, intellectual manner, without necessarily losing one’s creative aesthetic.

In its spontaneity, the indigo room for instance, reminds one of Lagos. The room abruptly creates balance. Coming from a warm terra cotta environment, which is another section into a cool blue zone, brings calmness to the eye. The counterbalancing of cool and warm is Modé’s way of expressing the neutrality that is usually achieved using white walls.

The character of the one-storey building, Mode says, is derived from the city of Lagos. Lagos has a harsh, forceful, yet conflicted presence that leaves a mark on anyone who comes in contact with the city. There are many places in Lagos that are very clean, but unkempt. Some roads are smooth and well-maintained, while others are barely passable.

The ultra-rich and the extremely poor coexist in Lagos. It is a city of extremes. In defining this space, she has drawn heavily on her Nigerian origin (specifically Abeokuta and Lagos), in fusion with her experiences from travelling and living in the West.

Mode believes that the white space creates distance, and prefers for art to be an intimate experience between the viewer and the work. To achieve this experience, she has created an environment that evokes the earthy feeling of Abeokuta. The terra cotta colour brings warmth to the space and the rough texture of the walls makes one feel they are in fact “under the rock”.

She describes herself as an impressionist who likes to experiment on acrylic and watercolour. Mode’s choice of themes makes her a multidimensional artist than experimentalist.

She credits her time in San Francisco as the main reason behind her becoming an artist. “Being constantly surrounded by Art in San Francisco really inspired me to start painting again, I dropped it a while back because I didn’t see a possible career path”. After her graduation, she spent a year working at the Cartoon Arts Museum in San Francisco; she then moved back to Lagos, Nigeria where she started pursuing her dream of becoming an artist.

She officially launched her Studio of Mode in 2012. Freda Kahlo and other impressionist artists are her primary source of inspiration. She dedicates her new gall­ery and store which is set to Launch on Sunday June 14th 2015 to her Late Father, Mr. Olutayo Aderinokun, who was a Patron of the arts.