By Osa Amadi, Arts Editor

Art and artists are supposed to be addressing the problems of their societies. Unfortunately, works of art that border on activism in Nigeria are scanty. Apart from Bob Nosa Uwagboe’s paintings in mixed media and sometimes with collage textures drawing attention to the sliding values which most African countries, particularly Nigeria, place on human lives, there are no other serious works of protest art in Nigeria.

•“The Egyptians Drowning in the Red Sea” painted by Antonio Tempesta

In his last outing, Nosa exhibited body of works which he used to mourn the death of value for human life and dignity. He is one artist who is worried that humanity has lost its essence, and needs to be mourned, first and foremost, as a process of recovery.

Duke Asidere is another Nigerian contemporary artist who through visual metaphors, interrogates everyday socio-political events in Nigeria, although Asidere is not as punchy as Nosa.

Across the sea, however, there is a deluge of artworks which denounce the evils and injustices found in contemporary societies. One of such works is Antonio Tempesta’s The Egyptians Drowning in the Red Sea. In this episode of Anatomy of an Artwork, we discover in the artist’s work, a visceral rendering of the biblical passage in which Moses and the Israelites pass through the Red Sea while the Egyptian army is destroyed.

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Presently on exhibition at Sotheby’s in New York City from 28 June 2019 – 13 September 2019, The Egyptians Drowning in the Red Sea captures the aspirations and faith of Christians in Nigeria who are slaughtered and persecuted on daily basis for their faith but are not violent enough to fight back. Leah Saribu, for instance, has been held hostage now for so long by her Islamic terrorists’ captors because she refused to renounce her Christian faith and convert to Islam. As the Egyptian soldiers ended up in the bowel of the Red Sea pursuing the children of Israel, so do Christian and the rest of Nigerians believe that those who are after their lives will end up in destruction.

Masterfully executed in oil on Italian red marble,’ says Sotheby’s, the magnificence of The Egyptians Drowning in the Red Sea lies in the way the artist incorporates vivid patterns of the stone into the image. The Egyptians Drowning in the Red Sea is offered as a highlight of Sotheby’s Inspired by Chatsworth: A Selling Exhibition. On view alongside Treasures From Chatsworth: The Exhibition, Inspired by Chatsworth presents a carefully curated group of exceptional artworks and objects that draw inspiration from the legendary Devonshire collection.

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