Obi Nwaegbe @ Omenka art gallery

Moments of recreation



It lies between the eyes



Portrait of a woman's pride


I have been so engrossed in Lagos and its culture that I almost forgot about the multi-ethnicity of Nigeria as a nation. Obi Nwaegbe has successfully brought me back to consciousness.

His show, "Tainted Visions"(which I posted as an event 10 days ago) is based on the nomadic tradition of Northern Nigeria, which he depicts in acrylic of canvass and conte and charcoal on paper. This well encapsulated collection of works has been showing at the Omenka Gallery in Ikoyi for a week and ended today.

His works depict the life and culture of the nomads and his illustration of the women really struck me. I went to school in the North of Nigeria and came across the nomads quite often but for the first time it occured to me that although they live at a subsistence level, they are always well adorned and beautified. Notice their bracelets, beads, large earrings, henna and tattoos- to the onlooker, they contradict their rustic lifestyle but yet this is their culture and it is art in itself.

Obi Nwaegba did a splendid job bringing his subjects to life. I particularly loved the drawing "It lies between the eyes", and the paintings, "Portrait of a woman's pride" and "moments of recreation". There was also a drawing "Young Boy Nomad" which I found to be really powerful (even just looking at it in the catalogue) but I never got to see it on canvass. I suppose someone else also found it irresistable (CHA-CHING!! $$$)

P.S: Im sorry I've brought you these pics with my phones 3.2 MP auto focus...