By Osa Mbonu-Amadi, Arts Editor

After his recent show on November 8, 2022, at the Yusuf Grillo Gallery, School of Art, Design & Printing, YABATECH, Muyiwa Akinwolere’s exhibition by the same title, Introspection, has been running since December 10 and continues till December 30, 2022, at Thought Pyramid Art Centre, Lagos, by Norman Williams Street, Ikoyi.

Muyiwa traces the cradle of his art practice to Onaism, a unique Yoruba art movement that started amongst students at the University of Ife with the likes of Moyo Okediji and Tola Wewe.

“I have been contemplating a possibility,” the artist says in his statement. “The possibility of showing a knowing. The possibility of letting out the steam from within me, that threatens to implode.”

That possibility entails the telling of all he had seen; all he sees now and all he would see later. But language is never enough to communicate those images which are products of deep contemplations.

“Luckily, I am an artist and perhaps the only (one) left here after the rapture of Nigerians to the abroad. So, I will tell a tale without words. My story is a tale of a bard who has lived through an impasse. It is a tale of many failed attempts,” says Muyiwa.  

The tales are not only tales of failed attempts, but also “tales of survival in a country where nothing works…” tales about “elder days” and the artist’s transition to what he calls “contemporary madness and curated cacophony.”

“I never knew the span of it is this humongous, until I lifted my head from the easel. I am telling my tale with ink, with hues, with impasto, with marks, on paper, on linen, on cotton, on wood. I hope that you can relate.”

Writing the Foreword of Introspection brochure about the artist and his body of work, Emmanuel Taiwo says of Muyiwa: “Having grown as an individual and a professional artist over the years, I agree with Muyiwa that he is absolutely at a very good time and place in his journey as an individual and a professional artist to have some crucial self-assessment. This is what this book and subsequent series of exhibitions represent.”

According to Mathew Oyedele, curator of the exhibition, “Introspection presents selected works of Muyiwa Akinwolere in a manner that opens a window into his thoughts, observations, satire and commentaries. Born in 1976 in Osogbo, Nigeria, Muyiwa grew up at a time of cultural appreciation in Nigeria. He grew up seeing the works of Susanne Wenger, Duro Ladipo and many other artists from Òsogbo. This early exposure to Yoruba works would later influence his practice. He picks the features of Òsogbo soapstone sculptures – round eyes, nose, mouth, form – as his signature style and has over the yearsevolved in its rendition and delineation.”

Some of the works listed in the Introspection brochure – all oil on canvas – are “The Return” (38” x 46”. 2021); “Ekilo F’omo Ode” (54” x 75”); “Tales By Moonlight” (60” x 72”. 2021); “Oba Koso” (“48: 48”. 2021); “That Ludo Game” (48” x63”. 2020); “Ascension” (75” x74”. 2020); “Story Teller” (122cm x 100cm. 2011); “Cain & Abel” (102cm x122cm. 2011) and of course, “All That Is Fair And Foul” (ANTIQUE INK ON PAPER.117CM X 105CM. 2018) from his group of works categorized as humanoids.