By Osa Mbonu-Amadi, Arts Editor 

All is set for the opening of an exhibition of recent paintings by Dr Bolaji Ogunwo titled “Terra Firma”. The exhibition opens on Sunday, July 16 at National Museum, Onikan, Lagos, and runs till Saturday, July 22, 2023.

Speaking with Vanguard during a press conference in Lagos announcing the exhibition, the artists, Dr Bolaji Ogunwo, a senior art lecturer in the Department of Creative Arts, Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos, said:

“Terra Firma means solid ground. I am trying to chronicle the gains from the COVID-19 pandemic. We all have stories (about the pandemic), so I am just telling stories with this exhibition. I don’t have to tell you about the pandemic. You witnessed it in your space, and you know how you survived. We’ve heard the tales of pains of the pandemic, the losses – we lost loved ones, people lost their jobs, etc. The pandemic year was a big tragedy.”

But if we look through, Bolaji said, we will see that there are things we gained. That is what Terra Firma is all about. “We went through the furnace of the pandemic, but we gain more capacity when we go through the furnace of adversity.

“COVID worked against everything we worked for. It shut doors, messed things up, and locked everything down. People were losing money – the airports, railways, etc. It was a period of inactivity, but we snapped out of it. And I think what we have left now is a higher version of mankind. Having gone through all of those adversities, that furnace has forged the capacity we have discovered.”

One of those capacities, Dr Ogunwo said, is a quicker way of doing things, for instance, the entrenchment of virtual life. “We could have done this meeting (the press conference) online. For instance, I have attended three meetings in one day at different locations (in the U.K, Abuja, and Lagos) while seated in my house.

“So, for this exhibition, I am saying the more we look, the more we see. It used to be ‘the more you look, the less you see’. COVID has removed that veil. The more we look now, the more we see.

Twenty paintings will be exhibited at Terra Firma. Among the pieces are “Ground Prix” 2023 (Acrylic on canvas, 135 x 210 cm); “Solid Ground” 2022 (Oil on canvas, 105 x 135 cm); “Up and Running” 2023 (Oil on Canvas, 105 x 135 cm); “Armoured” 2023 (Oil on Canvas, 105 x 135 cm); “Songs of Freedom” 2023 (Oil on Canvas, 105 x 135 cm), etc.

In his artist’s statement, Dr Bolaji said: “The repertoire in this exhibition represents a continuation of my exploration of similar subjects in the past, while also incorporating a new departure into the broad material technique that characterizes the foundation of my compositions.

“This results in a nuanced approach that draws from the intersection of the uniquely colorful to the hazily pixelated, and in canvases that oscillate between realms of blurred figuration and abstractional surrealism.

“These somewhat formal descriptors are not meant to be a technical guardrail or aesthetic lens through which to view this collection. Rather, they are terms that variously capture my preoccupation with the recent past, and the tainted imagery I am trying to espouse through the everyday relatable subjects. These subjects underscore my response to the recent realities and convey a canon of meanings beyond what they may be ordinarily associated with.”