This is a continuation of five-part interview of one of Africa’s avant-garde artists.

Infinite Patterns and Forms brought Adeola Balogun a new power appreciation on his prowess, as he experimented on non-biodegradable objects such as tyres and rubber to express his mind on contemporary environmental issues. They serve as metaphors in his experimentation journey.

A Mercurial Journey

From his Visual Symphony exhibition, his debut, Adeola Balogun has gone to give us some of the most incredible solo performances the world has ever seen. Such exhibitions that opened our mouth in agape with groundbreaking sculptural pieces and experimental art in recent time, have truly proved that the art teacher is a world class artist.

From his debut rhythm, Visual Symphony at the Chevron space in 1996, five more solo efforts have poured into our exhibition pool, such as the 2004 Egungun Masquerade: A Source of Inspiration for Metal Sculpture exhibited at Ekwenwan Campus, University of Benin. The November 17, 1966 born artist did not quit there, rather, these were the preparatory stages for the sculpture maverick when he opened another solo exhibition titled The Seed Phenomena at SADP Gallery, Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, in 2006, and then the world started to take notice of the art prince who revel in sculpture grandeur. He moved ahead to bag his MFA in Sculpture at the University of Benin, Edo State. His professional experience in art practice as a teacher at the prestigious Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, one of Africa’s most prominent art schools and being a culture producer cum manager, makes him an authority in the genre which have given fillip to experimentation from the versatile artist in his contemporary touch and creations.

Infinite Patterns and Forms brought Adeola Balogun a new power appreciation on his prowess, as he experimented on non-biodegradable objects such as tyres and rubber to express his mind on contemporary environmental issues. They serve as metaphors in his experimentation journey.

The artist has been known for his exposition of art using abandoned objects and non-biodegradable tyres to make his creations in mixed media forms, installations and sculpture designs. In his artistic statement in Infinite Patterns and Forms: An exhibition of Exploratory Body of Works at Nike Art gallery, Lagos in May 2010, “I embarked on experimenting with used and discarded tyres by cutting and shredding with all sorts of tools manual and powered, such as axe, cutlass, knife, angle-grinder and more. The choice of tyre is not only because of its abundant availability as a non-biodegradable material, which is a plus for a potential visual art medium, but as a pointer to the irony of lack, amidst plenty, which prevails in our society.

He has seriously opened our eyes and one of the very few to use their art to expose the societal problems and the ills in order to find a lasting and committed solution to varying world problems that are plenty from different approach. Such commanding titles as Ripple Effects, Treasure Within, Benevolence, Mutation, Law of Attraction, The Diamond Within and more done in mixed media, metal installation were exhibited in Infinite Patterns exhibition in 2010.

This experimentation, singlehandedly, gave the artist his art command sceptre that he deserved. He actually rode in to Nike Art Gallery, Lagos, and the venue of a class performance exhibition in 2010. He remains a great tutor on his art with the most recent, the last two solo exhibitions, Ants and Giants at the Quintessence and Soundspiration at the Omenka gallery in 2011 and 2014 respectively. “The awesome size of whales and elephants, protective armour shell of tortoise, flamboyantly coloured feathers of peacocks, ingenuous engineering skill of termites and spiders in the construction of anthill and web respectively and other innumerable wonders in nature, one cannot but marvel at the superior intelligence behind these phenomena.” These are added messages from the artist Ants and Giants exhibition at the Quintessence in 2011.

To be continued
Words /Interview /Ireho Aito /images /artworks /Adeola Balogun