By Osa Mbonu-Amadi

Depicting nature on canvas, specifically applying light in its mastery form in both painting and drawing is synonymous with Abiodun Olaku, who stages his first solo art exhibition 20 years after the last one.

Olaku’s much-expected exhibition titled “Odyssey: A Retrospective of Drawings and Paintings”, which has been in the planning for six years, will finally open on October 19, ending November 3, 2024 at National Museum Onikan Lagos. The artist had his last show titled “Stimulus”, at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, in 2004.

For this exhibition being organised by Red Heritage, the artist and the organiser have the window to expand the bridge that connects modern and contemporary Nigerian art. Olaku’s career of over 40 years has contributed immensely in building that bridge which linked two generations of artists from postmodernism to contemporary period of the 21st century.

Back to the artist’s mastery of light on canvas in celebrating nature, his work has been placed in the league of departed masters renowned, globally. An American artist, Michael Newberry, argued that Olaku is one of the greatest living “painters of light” currently. “His work holds its own beauty and standard when compared to great artists of the past such as Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn and Johannes Vermeer, Newberry, whose studio career spans over six decades stated ahead of the exhibition. “This is not to suggest that Olaku’s works are harkening back to the past but rather the opposite: he is charting a new course for the future by showing us the outer limits of how much an artist can understand and portray light.”

In Newberry’s Introductory essay to Odyssey titled ‘The Extraordinary Art of Abiodun Olaku’, the  American wrote: “A fascinating literal and symbolic result is how Olaku integrates ‘a thousand points of light’ represented by both man-made lights and the natural light of the heavens.”  It takes a master such as Newberry to explain the beauty and technique of light application in painting, within the context of Olaku’s trajectory. “In many of his paintings, he shows us beautiful twilight scenes announcing either dawn or evening,” Newberry explained.

 “The far-receding sky has an expansive dimmed brilliance that sets the tone for sparks of human contribution: lit windows, outdoor braziers, street lamps, or the headlights and backlights of vehicles.”

As a solo exhibition from an artist whose pedigree in naturalism has been celebrated for over four decades, Odyssey, according to artist and scholar, Dr Kunle Filani, is consistence with Olaku. “Olaku’s Odyssey is a veritable testament to his consistent sojourn as a versatile picturesque painter for over four decades. He not only championed excellent draughtsmanship and naturalistic rendition of paintings in Nigeria’s Postmodernist era (of the late 20th and early 21st centuries), but also among a few others who commenced the prevalence of the present superlative verisimilitude in Contemporary Nigerian art.”

One of Africa’s great art historians, Prof Frank Ugiomoh, articulated the contemporary status of Olaku, based on what he explained as “the evaluative engagements of his work and the time scale references about him.” Ugiomoh, an academician of repute, placed Olaku’s work in the conservative mode of the ivory tower, even still contemporary. “Undoubtedly, he is steeped in the academic tradition, but he does so to court the necessary pedestal to engage his creative insights. His most endearing works in portraiture and landscapes set him apart as a contemporary artist of our time.”

Excerpts from Ugiomoh’s essay titled ‘The Contours of Forms and Its Content in Abiodun Olaku’s Work’: “Olaku’s work stimulates an orientation of eco-aesthetics of natural beauty and the urge to campaign against environmental infractions in the ecosystem, while upholding the tenets of environmental ethics or environmental stewardship and a call for eco-justice.”

How does Olaku sees his art, career, despite whatever people have sakd of him? His colleague and art critic, Mufu Onifade attempted to find out. In conversation with Olaku, Onifade asked: “In summary and conclusion, can you review Abiodun Olaku as an artist?” Olaku recalled that one of the most important aspects of his art trajectory is being a full-time studio artist from 1981 after leaving formal training.

Excerpts from Onifade in Conversation with Abiodun Olaku titled, ‘I am Work in Progress’: “Part of the review is something I’ve said lately. The historical facts about me include the fact that having finished school in 1981, I have never left the practice of art whether I was employed or not, I’ve been practically active from 1981 till date, which makes it about 42 years. Irrespective of what people see of me, how they appraise my work, and my activities as an artist, I see myself as a work in progress. There is still a void I am trying to fill. That’s the way I like to see it and I am motivated by my life itself, using my artistic strength to make those statements that I think, if well done enough, could be preserved for posterity.”

Apart from his commitment to over two decades of studio practice, Olaku has contributed in general to art development in Nigeria as a former Vice President of Guild of Professional Fine Artists of Nigeria (GFA). He is also a foundation member of one of Nigeria’s oldest group studios, Universal Studios of Art (USA) located within the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos. And personally, he has been a source of inspiration to many young artists, directly or indirectly.