Tayo Adenaike: As Time Passes
September 9th - October 16th, 2004
Press ReleasePress Release
TAYO ADENAIKE
AS TIME PASSES
Watercolor
September 9th – October 16th, 2004
Press Release
Skoto Gallery is proud to present an exhibition of watercolors by the acclaimed contemporary Nigerian artist Tayo Adenaike. The exhibition includes recent exemples of the artist’s signature explorations of the human condition in watercolor paintings.
Tayo Adenaike was born in 1954 in Idanre to Yoruba parents. He received Bachelor of Art (1979) and Master of Fine Arts degrees (1982) at the University of Nigerian Nsukka and remained in Eastern Nigeria where he works as a painter and serves as Artistic Director of Dawn Functions, one of the largest advertising firms in the country. Adenaike’s principal medium is watercolor paintings although he occasionally works in oils and acrylic paints. His focus on the watercolor medium and consistent annual exhibitions provide a unique opportunity to observe the maturation of his technique and style over the years. His technical innovations, mastery of line and use of indegenious Igbo and Yoruba aesthetics makes Adenaike a major contemporary African artist. In addition, he has maintained an international profile of art exhibitions and is well represented in principal exhibitions and collections of modern and contemporary African art such as the Smithsonian Institution.
Adenaike’s paintings explore the human condition in Nigeria through metaphor that offer a critique of political and social conditions of contemporary experience. His personal interpretations of the Nsukka Uli style provides a unique view into the trans-cultural possibilities of the Uli movement since it brings his experiences of Yoruba and Igbo cultures to bear on visual images. Adenaike weaves personal interpretations of folktales, political critiques, portraits, figurative, and non-figurative imagery into a rich and colorful tapestry with very personal meanings. Over the years, the human face, distorted in agony or serene in contemplation, emerges as major motif in his art. These faces chronicle the changing fortunes of postcolonial African subjects and their complex existence.
Tayo Adenaike’s watercolor paintings document his slow but steady rise to artistic prominence. They are a gift to sustain the spirit.
Sylvester O. Ogbechie, PhD
Asst. Professor of Art History
History of Art and Architecture
University of California
Santa Barbara
Sylvester O. Ogbechie, PhD
Asst. Professor of Art History
History of Art and Architecture
University of California
Santa Barbara
