Sunday 04 November 2018
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Arts Victor Butler’s nuanced whisperings of the soul Obinna Emelike
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n the midst of Lagos’ “bursting at the seams” art calendar this week, Nuance, a highly anticipated solo exhibition of exceptional works by Victor Butler, a leading international artist from Ghana, opens to the public at Temple Muse on November 1, 2018. Curated by SMO Contemporary Art, the exhibition showcases 23 paintings on canvas and two prints, which draw viewers into Butler’s multilayered landscapes of myriad perspectives, subtly referencing traditional narratives in surreal spaces influenced by mathematics, science and natural history. Nuance is a one-of-a-kind journey of discovery into Butler’s world, exploring the meaning of community, culture, time and space, permanence versus relevance. Born in 1964, Victor Butler
is a self-taught artist with over 30 years of studio practice. His works have been exhibited internationally including in Canada, England, France and the United States. He studied medicine and has worked at the cutting edge of auto mechanics, information technology, and furniture design. His impressive painting technique and deeply philosophical approach to life is evident in his surrealist style and subject matter. Nuance is Butler’s first exhibition in Nigeria and shows the breadth of his signature surrealist style, celebrating relationships on the personal, family and community level. Butler speaks to the soul and identity of African communities as they draw on ancestral roots within futuristic mindscapes, which reference cultural identity and traditions vis-à-vis the need to preserve and conserve the natural world. He invites his viewers to stop and look below the sur-
others have either one or two eyes missing or altogether lack the ability to speak in mouth-less faces. In Interrupted, there is subtle dynamics within a group of six women dressed identically, casting questioning looks in the same direction, as if disturbed in mid-sentence. Butler is able to capture the subtle power struggle in these different scenes and groups, through nuanced expressions revealing the
intricacies and complexity in people’s interpretation of the same thing. The works unveil Butler’s poetic interpretation of the world is deeply rooted in his profound understanding of how community and culture is inextricably linked with science, the natural world, and technology. In his artist statement, Butler speaks about the peculiarity of “objectivity and subjectivity within the mind and soul of the community”
which he explores on each canvas. “We are excited to showcase Victor Butler’s work for the first time in Nigeria at two venues, Temple Muse and at the Art X Lagos fair,” Sandra Mbanefo Obiago, founder/ artistic director, SMO Contemporary Art, said. “The complexity, sophistication, and subtle depth of Butler’s art definitely set him apart as an African Master.” “Butler’s fantastic art also cross references the evolution of African design in a very futuristic way, commented Avinash Wadhwani, director of Temple Muse. “Nuance fits perfectly into both visual art and contemporary fashion as Butler’s futuristic designs and forms resonate with a renaissance creative community in Lagos and beyond.” The exhibition, which is sponsored by Access Bank and Veuve Clicquot, opens to the public on Thursday, November 1, and runs until December 7, 2018.
Nigerian prison is hard, inhuman and cruel. Only this month the newspapers reported an official of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre saying 12 million Nigerian children have grown stunted owing to malnutrition this year. Mohammed, who in his case was not sentenced to death, was one of the 46 inmates in Kano Prison who died that time as a result of bad conditions. Many more died of pneumonia, sclerosis of the liver, tuberculosis and meningitis.
A second case was Saminu Lawal, who had survived three years in detention without trial could not survive another day to prove his innocence. When an Ilorin magistrate called his case the next morning, Lawal has already died last night and his body has been taken to the mortuary.” These stories were pointers to the fact that the state of the Nigerian nation in the second half of the 20th century was a pathetic one. However, the next article titled ‘A Prison to Desire’ is totally different from the Kano prison; this is in Cardiff, United Kingdom. What appears to be a level narrow road stops suddenly on a wrong note. The huge remote controlled glass door slid open to admit Newswatch to her Majesty’s prison. There was hardly any black man in sight except then author, Usen. Here, 486 inmates are behind bars in three blocks of three-storey built in 1884. In the visitors’ hall, about 50 of the inmates sat opposite their relatives across a row of five long tables, trying to say as much as they could within the 30 minutes. Alan Rawson, the prison governor, was ready with explanations. “A degree of overcrowding is expected in a prison like this because we keep short term prisoners not
exceeding 12 months. Virtually all British prisons of this kind are overcrowded,” he said. Of the 486 inmates, 152 were non-convicts awaiting trial. Non-convicts in Cardiff however, do not await trial for nine years as in Nigeria’s Ikoyi prison. They are taken to court every seven days until their cases are disposed of. The prison governor told Newswatch that Cardiff prison alone services 26 magistrates and three Crown courts. Such is the content of Audacious Journalism. The stories are told incisively and comically, arrested so vividly in scraps of well-crafted and trendy prose. No doubt this book is recommended for mass communication undergraduate, graduate and those currently practices to help broaden their understanding of the professional and what it takes to practice journalism professionally. It is also a must-read for government and law makers as it draws a vivid picture of some of the histories that shape us as a nation. This will inform them on what to avoid ensure we do not make mistakes we made far back that still affects us today. Every other set of persons not mentioned above can also do well to get a copy as the book clearly informs, educates and entertains readers.
The Lure Of The Moon by Victor Butler
face at issues, which he references through arid worlds revealing intertwined forms and rich textures, which speak volumes once they are recognised in the shadows. Taking a look at some of his works, in Witnesses, Butler paints an abstract sea of faces with interwoven eyes, each fixing their stare on the same scene but with different interpretations, looks, and depth of reasoning; some faces appear complete, while
Victor Butler
Book Review Title: Art of Audacious journalism, its art, style and depth Author: Anietie Usen Pages: 710 Publisher: Parresia Publishers Reviewer: Ifeoma Okeke
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uthors, filmmakers and historians over the years have struggled getting information to make references because of the lack of documentation. Life and times have passed without having traces of reasons behind some phenomenon. However, a few writers are beginning to set the pace right and one of them is Anietie Usen who wrote an amazing book ‘Audacious Journalism,’ that chronicles events that shaped Nigeria till date. Usen is an alumnus of Harvard Business School, Oxford Business School, Manchester Business School and the University of Calabar. As a pioneer reporter at Newswatch, Usen rose to become the general editor. Later, he became an Editorial Board member of Thisday and Editor at Large of Africa Today Magazine, London. Currently, he is the commercial and industrial development director, Niger Delta Development Commission, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. With 710 pages, an index of two pages and a foreword by Des Wilson, a professor of Mass Communications, the book tells an interesting story of Nigeria, amusingly by a witness. The huge manuscript was published this year by Par-
resia Publishers, Ikeja. Lagos, Nigeria. The book is properly designed and quite appealing to peruse. The author starts the chronicle with his own story; on how he journeyed from the ‘wilderness’ of scary wars onto the ease of the boardroom in middle age. Audacious Journalism is segmented into seven parts. The stories are grouped as those on Nigeria, his columns, on Africa and America. Other stories are on the world, his interviews and the sports reports. The largest contribution among them is the section on Nigeria. There are 42 chapters in the first section, opening with Usen’s experience at Newswatch magazine and concluding with an account of the maiden speech of Nigeria’s head of state, Abdulsalami Abubakar. Section two contains his columns; hosting 19 articles. Africa has 11 chapters, America: six; the world: seven; interviews: five and sports: three. The stories reflect both his varied interests in various journalism beats. By its title the book seeks to serve as a director for entertainment, education and a sourcebook of journalism practice. It offers cherished material for learning and entertainment as a sub sector of Mass Com-
munication. The Prison in Hell is an article providing much information on the condition of our prisons. The unfortunate death of the prisoner sent bad vibes to readers. The eroded iron that confined him to the bed had left his ankle badly injured, his ribs could be counted and he had the ugly look of a drought victim. The doctor’s report simply said Muazu Mohammed prisoner No 1519/86 of Kano Central Prison, died of acute malnutrition. Life in a