Osogbo’s undying spirit

Rahmon Olugunna, who had 34 works on display at the Harmattan Gallery, Victoria Island, recently, continues to walk the path of the Osogbo art school. Even when the art leans towards his individual flair, elements of the art school still surface in his work.

This is clearly the art of the Osogbo movement but with a new twist: fittingly, the title of the exhibition was “New Spirit of Oshogbo Art.”

Olugunna’s work is heavily invested in the representation of Yoruba mythology and culture. The recurrent motifs are human beings, plants, animals and the gods—drawn or created in forms that are mosaic-like in look and feel. Paintings are often assemblages of colours in patterns that complete the work.

Like the great names before him, Olugunna composes mostly primary colours to get riotously colourful and exciting patterns. It is almost like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, and the overall effect makes for pieces that range from semi-abstract to abstract. With few exceptions, however, the way the artist deploys the colours seem a tad routine.

This is the case once the viewer can grasp the concept of his art: he follows a school that started in the sixties, and then adds concepts that stretch into the present. His work is also comprised of themes that are over flogged by artists; like “drummers,” “fishmongers” and “water scarcity.”

Olugunna, who hails from Osun State and comes from a family of drummers, became fascinated by art while in secondary school, after meeting the son of one of the leading lights of the Osogbo art school, the late Rufus Ogundele. His work over the years finally earned him an invitation from the Manchester City Council in the United Kingdom, in 2005, to teach his art.

After spending two years teaching and exhibiting, he returned to Nigeria for his first solo exhibition. His works are in the collection of big art collectors like Torch Taire.

As decorative as Oluganna’s art is, however, it is mostly engaging and has a story attached.

Apart from Yoruba heritage and the primary colour scheme, Olugunna also explores contemporary issues and events, as evident in “Obama Celebration.” The artist’s love for the colour blue is quite prominent in works like “Men Discussion,” “Family,” “Women Discussion” and “Palace Tortoise”—based on the traditional depiction of the tortoise as a wise and cunning creature in folk tales. T

he painting has a tortoise-like figure overlapping a background that represents the palace; the painting also refers to an aged tortoise in the Soun of Ogbomoso’s palace. “Obama Celebration” depicts mostly blue-looking figures with arms raised in celebration. Another work, “Village Elders,” is an abstraction of human figures and buildings and shows the relevance of elders in any community.

The artist’s undeniable absorption in Osogbo art and the works of his predecessors like Twin Seven Seven, Jimoh Buraimoh and Muraina Oyelami came through in this show, but he has a strong potential of cutting a niche for himself, even in that movement.