By Osa Mbonu-Amadi

Fifteen artists, including Sam Ebohon, Ato Arinze, Silas Adeoye, Damola Adepoju, Dotun Popoola, Timi Kakandar and Felix Aina, are scheduled to converge at Vivid Exclusive Gallery, Ozumba Mbadiwe Avenue, Victoria Island Lagos, for an exhibition titled “No Pain No Gain”, which opens September 24 and ends October 8, 2022.

Others artists featuring in the exhibition are Chukwuemeka Osisiego, Aladejare Ayodeji, Damilola Okhoya, Jideonwor Gabriel, Adebayo David, Aidelokha Iziogba, Ibie Blessing and Obeka Simon. Art icon, Mrs. Nike Okundaye, is expected to be the guest speaker at the exhibition.   

Apart from the art exhibition, the gallery, according to Chief Executive Officer, Gabriel Jideonwor, will also use the event to empower artists with other supports, and therefore advises young artists to be present at the event.

Sponsored by The Wings Complex, the exhibition is packaged to also encourage artists not to give up in any way but instead to keep doing their best.

In a gallery statement, Jideonwor noted that success in life is beset with dangers and uncertainties and only those who can overcome them by undertaking risks can enjoy the glory of success. He disclosed that the theme of the exhibition was inspired by people’s courage against all odds. 

“The adage, ‘no pain no gain’ means no effort, no success. Parents make their children pursue education from childhood, aiming to lead a better life. With peerless parental love, they want their children to be educated people. They often tell us to work hard at our lessons. They beat or scold us if we do not study well because their life experience proves that ‘No risk, no gain,” the statement says.

 “We cannot succeed in life without taking pains. To pass an examination, students must attend classes regularly and learn their lessons daily. The people who do not dare to take risk, giving up their attempts at the first sight of dangers and difficulties, can never attain success. Therefore, if we want to obtain success, we must take a risk and encounter the dangers and difficulties with courage, perseverance, and patience.

 “Another example is the continuous training necessary for soldiers to defend themselves and defeat the enemies in the battlefield. No athlete can win in games without serious training. Likewise, a healthy person possesses his sound health by doing physical exercise, taking nutritious food, drinking clean water, and living a healthy lifestyle.

“Sometimes we may fail or have to undergo suffering at first, but we should not lose heart and give up our pursuit in despair. Our initial failures and sufferings are nothing but the prices that we have to pay for ultimate success. Nobody can get anything without any cost. An artist who is not creative or hardworking might find it hard to create a masterpiece.

 “So, all artists are expected to be hardworking and consistent to have a better name in the art market. But while taking risk we must consider the pros and cons of the undertaking and keep in view how to overcome the difficulties and obstacles that may lie on the way, because hasty and perfunctory action may lead to ruin, and so the venture should be thoroughly analyzed before we launch into it.”