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Richard Izege in Broken Colours

By Eniola Daniel
04 July 2021   |   2:51 am
Richard Izege is a contemporary artist. Trained at the Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu and Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, over the years, he has practised his art in a rather multi-dimensional way

Richard Izege is a contemporary artist. Trained at the Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu and Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, over the years, he has practised his art in a rather multi-dimensional way — graphic designing and video producing for advertising agencies

Power of Light by Izege


Recently, he had his maiden show tagged, Broken Colours, with 37 exhibits of acrylic and oil on canvas selected from a rich vault.

“Deciding what should be left out prove a tricky task as each piece on the show provided a unique experience,” the artist said.
 
Speaking with The Guardian on how long it took to produce the exhibited works, he said: “One year. I started painting in 2020. I am not a commercial artist, I am a born creative person, so, I paint to preserve, to tell stories, and painting for the passion of it, not because I’m looking for money, the work naturally will sell itself, I don’t struggle because I have something to offer to the world.”
 
The works, however, can be classified into three main categories that are based on themes and ideas they embody. The most important of these themes is femininity. Other thematic suggestions are more personal, capturing individual moods, random expressions, engagements, beuty and fantasies.
 

 
From the physical endowments of the female to her behavours, penchants and preferences, Izege draws inspiration to interpret aspects of life along with several genres, including photography.
  
Generally, lzege’s images appear as a cubist’s construct, as his subjects are immersed in check but controlled brilliantly by colour pallets that are highlighted to give certain desired effects and meanings by the artist.

He celebrates the feminine gender in Shuku and Beauty, but mostly in a more essential way beyond what is laid bare physically.

Sometimes, they are presented as silhouettes with non-defined faces adorned rather with geometric patches of colours, and at best, with deducible shapes of heads and hairstyles.

Other times, they are more realistic faces also in a geometric colourful web upon which the artist relies to convey beauty and brilliance. A typical example is Feeling and Gele    
 
Izege treats Rhythm and Meditation similarly to Power of Light where lighting defines the subject, while other elements such as musical instruments are introduced to thematically extend the artist’s intentions beyond the concerns of Power of Light.

The concept of rhythm is further amplified beyond the combinative sound of the instrument, to appreciate the rather solitary poise and fluidity of the subjects usually with heads inclined to an angle. This fluidity could have been best captured when the female form is in motion in dance perhaps.
  
Regarding style and technique, it’s important to recognise the geometric shapes employed as motifs by Izege in his paintings and his use of lines not mere embellishments, but also a subtle means of deploying extensive meanings to a subject beyond immediate suggestions by its visible features.

The fragmented colourful geometric shapes either tamed or lightened to decorate the subject in a plain background, are used sometimes as the main background whereupon they are visible on the subjects as though the bodies are transparent, depending on the effect sought by the artist.

Herein, lies the essence of the title, Broken Colours, not necessarily a poetic bemoaning any misfortune.
  
With regards to influences, Izege’s style easily adapts largely to the dictates of cubism, with an expressionist mien. His geometric motifs are more spontaneous like shards or fragments and offer a totally different feel.

Izege’s Broken Colours offers the viewer some exciting pieces of art and perspectives and is a welcome addition to the contemporary Nigerian visual art paradigms.

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