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At Nollywood Portraits Show, Obi of Onitsha, Columbia Alumni commend Iké Udé

By Gregory Austin Nwakunor
16 June 2019   |   3:01 am
The Obi of Onitsha, His Royal Majesty Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, CFR, and members of Columbia Business School’s Alumni Club have commended New York-based, Nigerian born fine art photographer, Iké Udé, for bringing his internationally acclaimed photography show titled, Nollywood Portraits: A Radical Beauty, to Nigeria. The Obi also urged him to hold more shows in…

R – L Obi of Onitsha, His Royal Majesty Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe (Fifth); Osahon Akpata, President of the Columbia Business School Alumni Club of Nigeria (Fourth) and New York based, Nigerian born fine art photographer, Iké Udé with other members of the Alumni Club during the visit.<br />

The Obi of Onitsha, His Royal Majesty Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, CFR, and members of Columbia Business School’s Alumni Club have commended New York-based, Nigerian born fine art photographer, Iké Udé, for bringing his internationally acclaimed photography show titled, Nollywood Portraits: A Radical Beauty, to Nigeria. The Obi also urged him to hold more shows in Nigeria in times ahead.

The monarch made the statement when he led members of his alma mater, Columbia Business School’s Alumni Club of Nigeria, to visit the exhibition holding at the Alliance Française de Lagos/Mike Adenuga Centre on Osborne Road, Ikoyi, Lagos. The show ends today.

The visit of the monarch and other corporate players was on the heels of an Evening of Art and Conversation organised by Columbia Business School’s Alumni Club of Nigeria in association with Columbia University’s Alumni Club.

In attendance were the institution’s alumni in various fields including banking, finance, private equity, academia, museum management and others. They all enjoyed private conversations with the artist while appreciating the body of work that graced the walls of Alliance Française de Lagos.

“It is a double pleasure for me today bonding with fellow alumni of Columbia University and seeing the exhibition by Udé. I am thrilled to see Iké’s exhibition of the Nollywood Portraits. The works are absolutely fabulous. Iké is internationally acclaimed as a photography artist and I am very pleased that Nigerian art lovers have this opportunity to appreciate his unique artistic creativity. I trust that he will hold more exhibitions in Nigeria in the times ahead,” said the Obi of Onitsha after seeing all the portraits displayed.

Also speaking during the visit, the President of the Columbia Business School Alumni Club of Nigeria, Osahon Akpata, said: “We are pleased to be able to host an art event where our alumni get to interact with a leading contemporary African artist, Udé. His attention to detail in portraying these icons in his signature, elegant style is commendable.”

While further expressing his appreciation to Udé for his spectacular works of art, he commended him for choosing to be a positive voice for Africa in the world arena.

“With the works of portraiture, Udé is making a bold statement in the discourse about representation of Africans, from the safari perspective to a more modern image of our people. By creating this museum-quality body of work, he is taking beautiful images of Africans to the highest art and cultural institutions, where they may be referred to for centuries on end.”

Expressing his appreciation for the visit of the Obi to the exhibition, the artist, Udé said, “I’m indeed honoured by the august visit of the Obi of Onitsha. I admire his commitment to the development of the arts in Nigeria and would like to encourage others in leadership, government and private sector, to do the same.”

Preceding the alumni event was an informative and spirited panel discussion hosted by the curators of the exhibition, African Artists’ Foundation and moderated by actor and media personality, Ozzy Agu.

Titled, Countenance and Visage: The Power of Nollywood, Representation and Misrepresentation, the panel speakers were actor Alexx Ekubo, actress and media personality, Eku Edewor, costume designer, Yolanda Okereke, filmmaker BB Sasore and Udé.

Udé was born in Nigeria in 1960s and has lived in New York City, NY for over three decades. He is best known for his conceptual photographic portraits and self-portraiture.

Conversant with the world of fashion and celebrity, he gives conceptual aspects of performance and representation a new vitality, fusing his theatrical selves and multiple personae with his creative practice.

His works have been widely exhibited and collected both privately and by institutions, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Smithsonian Institution and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Udé is author of Nollywood Portraits: A Radical Beauty (Skira, 2016), Style Files: The World’s Most Elegantly Dressed (Harper Collins, 2008) and Beyond Decorum (MIT Press, 2000) and was publisher of the international magazine, aRUDE. He was a 2017 TED Global speaker and has featured on the coveted Vanity Fair International Best Dressed List three times. He lives and works in New York in the US.

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