Richardson Ovbiebo: "The Forms I Heard"

Solo Exhibition

Select Works by Richardson Ovbiebo, September 24^th – 8^th October, 2011, Lagos

Richardson Ovbiebo, Bolla, 2011, Bicycle wheels on car doors

The first solo-exhibition by Richardson Ovbiebo "The Forms I Heard" explores Ovbiebo’s interests in social issues that are represented by various objects, particularly those encountered in everyday life. This is exemplified in Bolla (2011), which emerged from an artists’ workshop that took place on the landfill in Isolo. The title of the work is a term used to refer to sites like the workshop location, and the persons working therein. Composed of two car doors, which are painted with the same colors and displayed as though they were being forced together, Bolla’s physical properties emphasize the shared fate of these doors, their being melted together and molded into various steel objects. 

     Like the doors, are the paths of these persons also pre-determined? Have they become rigidly fixed in a system, a cyclic process like the very recycling they engage in everyday? This work and the others highlight the relationships humans have with objects and how these items signify the way lives are lived.

Richardson Ovbiebo

A graduate of Yaba Polytechnic, Ovbiebo’s work has been featured in numerous forums, including exhibitions at the Contempory Center for the Arts (Lagos), “Lost in Lagos—the Artist’s experience” and several Arthouse Auctions. In 2009, he won 1^st Prize in the Nigerian Breweries and African Artist Foundation, National Art Competition “Nigeria the Future I See.” He was First Prize Winner in the Fashion Designers’ Association of Nigeria and African Artist Foundation Exhibition, “Design inspired by Fashion” in 2009, and a finalist for the Creative artist of the Year– Future Award Nigeria in 2010. Richardson Ovbiebo, born in 1982, hails from Igbanke in Edo state. He graduated in 2007 from Yaba College of Technology in sculpture. 

Helga Thagaard "Never a certain kind"

Helga Thagaard is an artist from Denmark. Her work ranges from sculptures to graphic art.With TYT she speaks about imaginative art, masks and birds. 

http://www.helgathagaard.dk

http://www.helgathagaard.dk

What is it like being an artist in Denmark?
Helga: Well it is rather difficult to make a living. Only very few persons are able to do that. But there are many  possibilities for exhibition. You can either pay for it or you can be invited by a private art union, of which there are many. But there are many other ways.

How would you describe your work? What inspires you?
Helga: My work is partly naturalistic partly imaginative. Birds have always been one of my motives, although they are never a certain kind. I also often use masks. This makes the atmosphere in the artwork a little surrealistic. 

Do you have a favorite artist? 
Helga: Yes, I have many favorite artists. Danish: Among others Reidar Magnus, Sven Wiig Hansen. From abroad: Cesanne, Miro, Anselm Kiefer, Degas, Kâthe Kollwitz and many many more.

What advice would you give young artists that are only just starting out? 
Helga: Just: go on, go on, go on. Never give up!

http://www.helgathagaard.dk

http://www.helgathagaard.dk

http://www.helgathagaard.dk

http://www.helgathagaard.dk

"Expressing your history through art" Interview with african artist Jems Koko Bi

Jems Robert Koko Bi is an african artist, who was born in Ivory Coast and lives in Essen, Germany. He left Ivory Coast for studying art abroad in Germany. 

Leaving his home was not easy for Jems. This is why he expresses his own history in his artwork. "The best way to be an artist is to be yourself", he says. Serious work and endurance is very important to him. "Anyone who gives up because the world of art is hard, doesn't understand what art is", he concludes. Until now, each of his artworks has been a challenge for him. "It is always hard to find the harmony between myself, my history and the material", Jems says. 

One of his hardest artworks was making the sculpture of Nelson Mandela, he had to use 

27, 000 pieces of wood to make this portrait. However, the struggle was worth it. The sculpture can be viewed in the downtown city of Essen. 

Jems Koko Bi: Babylon ( http://www.jemskokobi.com )

Jems Koko Bi: Darfur ( http://www.jemskokobi.com )