 | | I Wish it Will Rain on Me, 2001 |
Ibiyinka Olufemi Alao was born in 1975, in Ilorin, Kwara state, Nigeria and educated at indigenous institutions. He formally trained as an architect but felt compelled to design paintings instead of buildings. He had aspired to become an artist since childhood. In 2001 his talent was internationally recognized when he won first place in the adult category (19 years and over) of the prestigious United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) International Poster Contest. His winning poster, The Perversity of Life, and other works focus on the human condition and its relationship to cultural legacies and modernization, both concerns of the World Bank. Alao’s compositions have been described as colorful, mystical, and magical. They are undoubtedly attractive and accessible to all viewers because they depict familiar things, e.g., lovers, fishermen, dancers, and musicians. His countrymen delight in his attention to details of ethnic dress and adornment. Closer examination confirms that Alao is not simply a visual griot, or storyteller, but often a master of allegorical painting. Similar to traditional African artists who crafted aesthetic objects that expressed important cultural values, Alao’s paintings are functional. Utilizing the rich imagery of his culture, he creates works that admonish, commemorate and amuse.  | | Twin Stars of Life, 2000 |
Twin Stars of Life, for example, depicts two nursing mothers seated on modern chairs in a minimal landscape with blue palm trees under a starry sky. What are the bright green dabs of paint above each woman’s head? They represent fresh green leaves and provide a clue to understanding this work. In Ibiyinka’s society, positive acts deserve a pat on the head, with fresh green leaves. In this case, breast-feeding, an act of nurturance, is a positive cultural value to be retained. Doubling the image reinforces the message and the setting sun urges one to take action before it is too late. The work is an allegory of admonition.  | | Omonoba (Benin King), 2001 |
Alao commemorates traditional forms of government which remain vital in many regions of Nigeria. Two paintings from The Royal Colors of Heritage series are included here: Omonoba, the king of the Edo-speaking people of present-day Benin City, and Oba to represent rulers of various Yoruba kingdoms throughout southwestern Nigeria. These pictures feature a hierarchical arrangement. The focal point is an elaborately adorned ruler flanked by a royal symbol and the elaborately coifed head of a virginal princess. This figure rightfully occupies the central space, the locus of power. Small figures in the background represent priests on the left and subjects on the right. In these works Alao does not exercise artistic license but accurately depicts the unique accoutrements of rank. Sacred texts are visualized with imagery derived from Alao’s his cultural experiences. For example, in Still for a While, market women with bowls on their heads, male dancers in tee-shirts and feather headdresses, and female dancers dressed in fiber costumes represent the cast of the Apocalypse. At the top of the composition, the All Mighty is represented by dark hands emerging from cloud-like sleeves to open the calabash (seal or vial) of life. In Caught Up in the Rapture, Adam and Eve are depicted clinging to and standing on tree limbs as they miraculously float toward Heaven, here symbolized by the sun in a triangle of light beyond the horizon.  | | A Long, Long Way from Home, 2000 |
Nostalgia for the old ways and wishing for a better life are the respective subjects of A Long, Long Way from Home and I Wish it Will Rain on Me. In the former, a group of village women are shown taking turns pounding food with heavy pestles in the wooden mortar. Modern town dwellers miss the sounds and scenes of life in rural villages. According to Alao, pink is the color of wishing and it dominates the landscape of stylized trees and strong shadows in I Wish it Will Rain on Me. The woman and men in the foreground of the composition are isolated and absorbed in wishing for “good things to rain down” on them. Alao painted Take a Closer Look in response to the ethnic clashes occurring in his country. A “window” offers a view of a seascape. The window and two pink frames symbolize the “rectangles of Man’s heart” and the images in the distance symbolize those whose religion, language and ethnicity are different from yours. Like a telescope, each successive rectangle offers a sharper image of the indistinct forms on the horizon. The colors change from a murky yellow to clear blue and white, universal colors of peace and purity. The message of the painting is that tolerance and understanding require “taking a closer look.” Of his work Ibiyinka Olfuemi Alao states, that his personal aim is to use art and the spirituality of his heart “as a river to water mankind’s hearts, so that we may grow and know peace.” Dr. Roslyn Adele Walker
Visiting Curator Index - List of artworks in the exhibition Can You See It?, 1997
27.5” h x 32.5” w
Tempera Vision of Ezikiel, 1997
27.5” h x 32.5” w
Tempera Still for a While, 1999
32.5” h x 27.5” w
Tempera Caught Up in the Rapture, 1999
27.5” h x 32.5” w
Tempera Twin Stars of Life, 2000
30.5” h x 41.5” w
Tempera A Long, Long Way from Home, 2000
30.5” h x 41.5” w
Tempera Atikpo Ati Alejo (“What is your life?), 2000
35.5” h x 47.5” w
Tempera Omonoba (Benin King), 2001
32.5” h x 27.5” w
Tempera Oba (King), 2001
32.5” h x 27.5” w
Tempera The Music Party, 2001
27.5” h x 32.5” w
Tempera Adajo (Judgement), 2001
30.5” h x 32.5” w
Tempera I Wish it Will Rain on Me, 2001
30.5” h x 41.5” w
Tempera The One I Love, 2001
47.5” h x 35.5” w
Tempera Take a Closer Look, 2002
30.5" h x 41.5” w
Tempera To Gain Eternity, 2003
35.5" h x 47.25" w
Tempera
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