Enlightenment, funding will improve art environment, says artist

Arts

Lagos, April 7, 2014 An artist, Isaac Emokpae, on Monday said the Nigerian artistic environment could be improved through funding and enlightenment.

Emokpae said at the venue of his exhibition at Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos, that funding would help to boost the artists’ creativity.

The exhibition opens from April 7 to April 30.

Which reflect the duality of humans, their soul and emotions, as encountered in everyday relationships.

“The artists create only to survive. This simply means that if they are not comfortable, they lose the edge that drove them initially.

``They need bursaries and grants to foster pure artistic pursuits, devoid of the need for profit.

``It is when artists are comfortable that we can then see an age of true genius in the visual arts sector.

``Now, what you see is that a lot of artists get stuck within a wall, rut for too long, and they wind up being creatively stagnant,” he said.

Emokpae, who started with photography, noted that with the enlightenment of the arts and showcasing them to the people, it would be less encumbered when the artistic expressions were exhibited.

“My sojourn into photography started simply because I needed references for my painting works. Initially I used magazine photos but it affected my work because most of the models were white.

``My Monad series is inspired by the work of philosophers like Liebniz, Descartes and Santayana,” Emokpae said. 

A curator, Sandra Mbanefo-Obiago, said that the artist's works existed on a spectrum, ranging from cartoon simplicity to opaque expressionism.

The exhibition, being sponsored by the Deutsche Bank, has 35 paintings on board and canvas.

Some of them are arts works titles are ``Confidant”, ``Harmony”, ``Over exposed”, ``Reeds”.

Emokpae studied painting at the University of Lagos, but has spent most of his professional life on photography-- in fashion and journalism.

He has won numerous awards, including the UNESCO "Save our Treasures" art competition in Troyes, France (1996), and the Hasselblad Masters (Semi Finalist Award) for Photography in 2007.

Emokpae paintings were featured in Arthouse Contemporary Auctions in 2013.

He is the son of a renowned Nigerian artist, Erhabor Emokpae (1934-1984).