By Osa Amadi, Arts Editor

Most prolific exhibiting art gallery, mentor of artists and most charitable, Alexis Galleries, is at it again. This time, it is with a group exhibition of paintings, sculptures, and mixed media  titled Brilliance which opened yesterday, the 28 of September, and runs till October 5, 2019.

Standing from left: Exhibiting Artists Chukz Okonkwo, Patrick Agose, Luke Osaro; Mrs. Patty Chidiac Mastrogiannis, Founder & Director of Alexis Galleries; Artists Busayo Lawal, Paul Ayokhai and Ato Arinze. Sitting from left: James Amedu and Samuel Gift, social workers at Sought After Women & Children Foundation.

Brilliance will parade the works of seven brilliant artists: Patrick Agose, Ato Arinze, Paul Ayokhai, Chukz Okonkwo, Busayo Lawal, Luke Osaro and Moses Ibanga. Six out of the seven exhibiting artists who spoke to Vanguard about their works exuded confidence that the show will be a huge success.

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Popular sculptor, Ato Arinze is showing 4 major (Pregnant Teenager, Homage to mother earth, Motherhood, Couple Resting) and 3 miniatures (Meditation 1, 2, 3), while Chukz Okonkwo, a painter who uses sawdust as his primary material before applying the paint is showcasing Mother’s Love, Fisherman’s Invocation, Someday My Prince Will Come, and Black is Beautiful. Chukz’s innovative idea of creatively repurposing sawdust came from the sawmill owned by his father.

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Luke Osaro, another sculptor brings to the exhibition, On My Wedding Day, Desert Princess, Adam’s Heart, Daring, Emancipated, and Perseverance. But painter, Paul Ayokhai, perhaps hauls the largest number of works at the exhibition which include Man in Blue, Passage, Whistle Blowing, Lovers, Royalty, Pepper, Music and Cow & Cake.

Busayo Lawal brings 4 major works (including The Dreamer’s Paradise, Hero Yester-Years, The Revealer, To Live Again) and Portrait of Mrs. Flamboyant 1-4, while another sculptor, Patrick Agose, showcases Masks 1-3 (made of ebony woods), Fulani Maiden (stone cast), and Against All Odds (made of bronze).

As usual, Alexis Galleries will donate part of the proceeds from the Brilliance exhibition to another charitable NGO, Sought After Women & Children Foundation. James Amedu social worker at Sought After, told Vanguard that the foundation which presently caters for 42 kids in its Orphanage and 15 girls at its Rehabilitation Centre, has funding as its greatest challenge.

Sought After takes care of lost but found kids, abandoned kids, and those that need shelter. Eight of the children under their care have presently written the Joint Matriculations Examination waiting for money to proceed to the universities.

Brilliance  is sponsored by Tiger, Pepsi, Indomie, Mikano, Delta Airline, Amarula, Nederburg, Cobranet Internet Service Provider, Cool FM, Wazobia TV, Art Caf and The Homestores Limited.

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According to Mrs. Patty Chidiac Mastrogiannis, Founder & Director of Alexis Galleries, “Alexis, in nine years, has engaged in the presentation and dissemination of contemporary art in the media of painting, drawing, mixed media and sculpture. We have established ourselves rapidly as one of the best galleries in Nigeria, a meeting place for artists, collectors and enthusiasts of art.”

Vanguard