Morakinyo, Peters, Adeogun in Synonyms Of Faces

Three artists, Seye Morakinyo, Udoakang Promise Peter and Babatunde Adeogun, whose specialisation leans towards portraiture, are showing Synonyms Of Faces from April 17 to 24, 2021 at the Alexis Galleries, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The facility is a familiar terrain for Morakinyo, who has had both solo and group shows there.

For Peter, whose career has been shaped by Alexis Galleries’ mentorship, another window comes to keep the relationship alive.

Adeogun, who is based in Ibadan, said Alexis Galleries’ track record of promoting young artists, is an attraction for him.

On the show’s theme, Morakinyo said that it’s all about like minds of artists coming together.

“It gives us opportunity to show our strength together.”

Among his works for the exhibition are The Shepherd and the Herd, which he said, looks at “the leaders and the led,” as well as their attitude; The Vulnerable, a narrative on fragility of females and children in Nigeria and another, which is more on retrospection about “how we were doing before the western world came to our land.”

Peter, an artist who uses fabric collage to enhance the textures of his canvas, has penchant for ankara materials as part of the mixed media paintings. Among the works by Peter for the show are Companion, mixed media; Reflect Beauty series and Deconstruction, oil on canvas.

The artist uses beauty as a subject to enhance his paintings that are more than just portraitures. Someone he knows ‘personally’, based on the lady’s natural attraction, Peter said, inspired one of the works in Reflect Beauty series.

The artist, in Retrospection, focuses on the energy of Nigerian youth, noting, “there are potentials abound in youthful,” blood. Peter said: “I like figurative based on my background of crowded environment where human figures speak so much about their environment.”

According to the gallery’s statement, Adeogun’s paintings express daily experiences of his environment. Patty Chidiac-Mastrogiannis, founder and director at Alexis, said Adeogun is “challenged to look beyond the current hardship and views a brighter vista.”

The artist’s works, she noted, are of focal expressions that read the subjects’ inner minds. “He likes to classify people on the basis of their mood and thought,” just as the artist’s works are “focused on the general improvement of humanity and the eradication of social ills.”

She describes Morakinyo as a multidimensional mixed media artist, who works in collages, pebbles, with meticulous linear expressions on his paintings. “His expressions are intriguing and spectacular!” 

Peter’s works, the gallery noted, “are deeply rooted in the black skin and cultures of Africans.” Among the artist’s strength are what Alexis Galleries described as “showing different narratives of happenings, emotions and moods around him and also using his works as a voice for people who cannot speak out from there predicaments.”
 
Peter and Alexis seemed to have a strong relationship as the artist recalled how Alexis “mentored me for two years working here.” The gallery, he added, supported his academics when he was at Yaba College of Technology, Lagos.

Collectively on the the three artists, Alexis stated: “The fusion of these carefully selected art styles and techniques in one art space gives a sensational feeling, intriguing view, relatable characters, spectacular perception of colours and of course aesthetically pleasing works!”

The show’s virtual tour will also be published on the opening day, on the gallery’s social media handles; Instagram- alexisgalleries, Facebook- Thehomestores & Alexisgalleries.

The show, according to Chidiac-Mastrogiannis, is supported and sponsored by Pepsi, Tiger, Indomie, Mikano, The Guardian, Wazobia TV, Cool Fm, UPS, Haier Thermocool, Cobranet, Delta Airlines, Aina Blankson, The Homestores, Art Café, And Lost In Lagos, Arzeh Integrated Ltd, AMG Logistics.

The show is in partnership with Street Child Care and Welfare Initiative, which is an independent not-for-profit organisation.

The NGO, according to Chidiac- Mastrogiannis, works to improve and protect the right and lives of vulnerable children through participatory education, sports, social and health awareness, while ensuring adequate rehabilitation and long term reintegration. She disclosed that Alexis “is partnering by donating part of the exhibition proceeds to its cause.”