Ademola Akintola An Ardent Dance of Souls
International Confederation of Art Critics
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Ademola Akintola
Front cover: “Flight I” by Ademola Akintola Acrylic on canvas - 40 x 32 inches
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Ademola Akintola
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Ademola Akintola
ICAC
International Confederation of Art Critics
Tutuola Oil on canvas - 24 x 24 inches
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Ademola Akintola An Ardent Dance of Souls
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Ademola Akintola
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Contents
The Artist
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‘Inextinguishable Chromatic Nuances’
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‘The Fierce Flow of Creativity’
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‘The Surprising Perspectives of Nature’
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Artwork Analysis
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Exhibitions
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Awards
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List of Works
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Christopher Rosewood, International Confederation of Art Critics
Timothy Warrington, International Confederation of Art Critics
Elena Foschi, Art Historian
Karen Lappon, International Confederation of Art Critics
Edited by the International Confederation of Art Critics
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Ademola Akintola I have grown to appreciate art and music, beyond human boundaries and barriers. [...] From this point of view, I could see the universality of thoughts and emotions. The Yoruba’s would say, ‘erin o yato te de ‘lu oyinbo’, meaning that the act of laughing does not differ, neither is it distinguishable due to differences in race or colour. Human beings react to things that makes them laugh or cry in the same way. So there’s that universal bonding within mankind from the North to the South, East to the West Ademola Akintola
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Ademola Akintola
Ademola Akintola in his studio
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The Artist Born in Oyo State Nigeria in 1952, Ademola Akintola has exhibited widely both in Africa, Europe and USA. He is a self-taught artist and brings us a series of lively paintings which are visual narratives of African storytelling, combined with the political realities of contemporary life. Ademola Akintola’s mother Mrs Moshobalaje Alice Akintola was very creative, and passed the artistic gene to Ademola and his brothers and they in their turn, to their children. Ademola’s art consciousness started when he was about eight years old, he would draw, model with clay, or carve using thorns from cotton-silk tree in his free time, portraying everyday life. He was influenced by the hand carved wooden posts, pillars, wall paintings and decorations of the King of Oyo’s palace and the famous calabash carvers with their very intricate designs. His father never wanted him to be an artist. But in his final year in secondary school his dad bought him art materials, after he realised that Ademola couldn’t be dissuaded from doing art anymore. He decided not to take up an offer to study art the Yaba College of Technology. After teaching in an elementary school for a year, he spent the next 5 years touring Africa from the West to the North, painting portraits of prominent people and graphic illustrations for advertising companies to support himself. Exposure to various African art forms gave him quite an insight into various African cultures and has heavily influenced his Art. After completing several residencies in the US, he was offered a residency at the Tate and moved permanently to the UK in 1990. Ademola Akintola is now widely recognised as one of the current foremost African/British artists. Over the years, with several highly prestigious and successful solo exhibitions, he has participated in a number of significant group shows, most notably “Aids in the Black community” and “Black Family Exhibition”. After having worked mainly in his local community for the last 20 years he is now back in full force with new international exhibitions.
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Ademola Akintola
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Inextinguishable Chromatic Nuances Christopher Rosewood International Confederation of Art Critics
Ademola Akintola is an eclectic expressive painter who communicates his innate creative instinct in his own distinct language of colours and drawings with the only purpose to mesmerise the viewer. His unique and variegated style is characterized by fluid and appealing compositions that surprise and capture the viewer’s eye in a maze of dancing forms. The vibrant brush-strokes and the ability to create a harmonious whole, strengthen the spectator’s admiration for this artist’s passionate talent. Art History is born with African Art and the influence of traditional Sub-Saharan creativity delineates the roots of all Ademola’s works, laying the foundations for a modern interpretation of a cultural heritage in an unceasing evolution. In fact, as the artist explains: “I want to believe that if I tag my art as African Art, I am merely talking about my background as an African because Art is universal. It cannot be distinguished either by colour, race or creed.” A vibrant whirlwind of colours, ardent dancers between primary tints, floating contrasts and rounded shapes, create a wonderful trap in which we are enthusiastically caught. The human figure has always been the primary subject for most African art, but in Ademola’s representations the bodies merge with the rest of the painting, incorporating the background and creating a new “entity” that becomes pure artistry.
Girls at Puberty Acrylic on panel - 60 x 48 inches
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Ademola Akintola
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Critique
Irrepressible Chromatic Nuances The surrounding atmosphere evolves into the very history of a continent, of a community and of so many different traditional cultures. Each artwork is a sharp but intricate reflection of Ademola’s deep cultural roots. Furthermore, Akintola is not only the architect of a conceptual reality and the interpreter of a complex perception of the external world, but he is also a witness of the social injustices and sufferings of his people, shaken by turbulent riots and internal conflicts. Africa is only the beginning: while we are intrigued by anthropomorphic representations of supernatural-like presence, Ademola speaks louder with the direct language of art, making us forget landmarks and cultural diversities. Ademola demonstrates the power of supremely well organised forms. He creates not only by responding to visual perception, but primarily to imagination, in a mystical and religious experience. In each composition there is a clearly perceivable sophistication, unified by phenomenal expressive power, using highly stylized human figures influenced by Henri Matisse and Georges Braque. But even before that, the originality of his work depends on the traditional forms by African Unsung Masters, whose works had a great importance in the development of modern European art. Ademola combines the harmony of different cubist perspectives with the force of the impressionist brushwork of Camille Pissarro, passing through the dynamic shades of the mature Fauve painter Maurice de Vlaminck. The resulting pictorial liveness and vivid colour palette, defines Ademola’s original communicative style. Christopher Rosewood International Confederation of Art Critics
Boat Oil on canvas - 30 x 24 inches
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Ademola Akintola
Anetalia - Genitalia (with detail) Mixed media on panel - 30 x 40 inches
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Ademola Akintola
Fixation (with details) Oil on canvas - 44 x 38 inches
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Faces and Masks (with details) Oil on canvas - 39 x 28 inches
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The Fierce Flow of Creativity Timothy Warrington International Confederation of Art Critics
Ademola Akintola is a talented painter whose style ranges from creating traditional figurative still lives and postimpressionist landscapes to absolutely abstract works. The first impression of Akintola’s artworks is that he is a learned painter that draws his inspiration from the old masters of art history. His figurative creations are painted with sheer virtuosity and fine attention to detail. But it is the great depth and brilliance of colour that really brings these works to ‘life’. Akintola greatest talent lies in his eclectic expression of his most intimate creative aspirations: despite experiencing different surfaces and various pictorial techniques, he never loses sight of the primary aim of charming, involving and moving the viewer. Some post-impressionist portraits are of forceful emotional communication. The decisive and vigorous gestures, accompanied by brilliant colour emphasise the lively, almost tumultuous nature of his subjects. Dancers, lovers, masks or just liquid figures, they are all animated by a river of passion, emotion, music and joie de vivre. With their varied textures and media, Akintola’s intriguing compositions weaves an almost mystical harmony and the consequent balance highlights the also rational side of Akintola’s artistic skill. On the other hand, Akintola’s more abstract paintings are essentially sensorial depictions of his innermost sensitivity.
Conception Acrylic on canvas - 39 x 39 inches
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Ademola Akintola
Dancers Acrylic on canvas - 30 x 30 inches
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The Fierce Flow of Creativity Again, colours play a central part. The effect created by the combination of analogous and complementary colours is stunning and their strong impact on the eye is absolutely magnetising and overwhelming. Figures are frequently painted with undefined, soft features which render them anonymous, but not less expressive and meaningful; we are provoked to employ our own imagination and subsequent interpretation of the characters depicted. In various works, thick brush strokes portray a quasi–collage effect, bringing the many shades and shadows together within the canvas, thus compelling us to discover the mystery behind the artwork. This unique use of colour displays the combination of intensity and softness that underlies all life experiences, highlighting Akintola’s scope of artistic ability. The rhythmic and poetic compositions create a peaceful portrayal of scenes, in juxtaposition with the contrasting colours and the lively figures with a clear sense of movement, emphasising the attractive nature of the paintings. The enthusiastic palette perfectly displays the African spirit, depicting a clear cultural influence that is transformed into an amalgamation of energy within the paint. It appeals to the most fundamental part of the human experience that we all share – the passion for life and the appreciation for the aesthetic nature of the world around us. As the writer W. Somerset Maugham said: “The artist produces for the liberation of his soul. It is his nature to create as it is the nature of water to run down the hill.” Akintola certainly feels this creative need with his whole being, manifested in an exuberant freedom of thought and action.
Timothy Warrington International Confederation of Art Critics
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Ademola Akintola
Composition with Lines Acrylic on canvas - 39 x 39 inches
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Cyclists Acrylic on canvas - 39 x 39 inches
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Ademola Akintola
Masks (with detail) Metal mix media on panel - 40 x 38 inches
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Ademola Akintola
“Most times, I allow my thoughts to crystallise and let intuition flow like a river to determine the process of my art. The material of exploitation is allowed to have a say in the process of my work giving room for what my mind is seeing instead of what my eyes are telling me. I observe things with my inner mind so that the perceived image can render me its own interpretation.� Ademola Akintola
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Ebun Oil on canvas - 24 x 24 inches
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Ademola Akintola
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The Surprising Perspectives of Nature Elena Foschi International Confederation of Art Critics
Ademola Akintola binds both emotional and rational aspects in his works, displaying a clear versatility in styles and techniques that comes from his wide range of experiences obtained during his extensive travels. The intense palette entices us into vivid scenes of brightness and movement, depicting a deep-rooted sense of the appreciation for diversity within cultures and continents. Not only this, but also the close attention to detail with regards to the light within the painting creates a sense of effervescence and amusement that the artist aims to express. As a result, the overwhelming importance of the visual effect in his work becomes apparent, and is translated onto the canvases in a brilliant display of action and passion. The use of expressive vibrant colour, the simplification of forms and a fascination with primeval art are constant throughout his works, characterized by dense, bold brushwork. Akintola communicates with an euphoria reminiscent of AndrÊ Derain’s use of pure, unnatural colours. As the French painter, Ademola Akintola avoids a traditional modulation of light and shadow, adopting heavy outlines to suggest volumetric sections.
Olori Oil on canvas - 36 x 30 inches
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Ademola Akintola
Detail of “Movement of Forms”, Oil on canvas, 40 x 40 inches
In the work “Olori”, the anatomical elements are built up with thickly-applied patches of paint juxtaposed one beside the other, creating a stunning effect of strong contrasts that generate an overall harmonious balance across the entire surface of the canvas. In other works, such as “Movement of Forms”, Akintola expresses the powerful allurement of the nude female figure bathing in nature, a subject loved and depicted by many Great Masters in Art History, like Cezanne in his late “Bathers” and Picasso in his “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon”. The bodies are intertwined in a tribal dance of fluid movements and the background blends with the main characters surpassing a classical three-dimensional perspective. The deep and warm tones of the shadows are suddenly transfixed by rays of light, painted with pure and rich colours, accentuating the outright allure of these paintings.
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Akintola merges the soft shapes of primordial and intuitive artistic expressions with the Post-impressionistic geometric experimentations in order to create a timeless art, removed from any identifiable reality. Nevertheless, Ademola Akintola penetrates the intimate fragility and nature of his subjects, thus representing his creative mind’s interpretation of the perceivable world. In viewing Ademola’s paintings we discern the Paul Cezanne statement: “The painter unfolds that which has not been seen”. In fact, Ademola is able to “feel” and capture the soul of the invisible and then translate it in an emotional symphony of complementary colours that entices the subconscious, gradually awakening our attention to detail that we discover more and more. Ademola Akintola is a true artist and a talented communicator in a contemporary art scene that really needs a sincere and lucid artistic language.
Elena Foschi International Confederation of Art Critics
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Ademola Akintola
Float Metal mix media on panel - 44 x 24 inches
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“Ademola Akintola is an exemplary artist of pioneering foresight and vision. The dexterity of his approach is maximised through his ability to work across traditional fields of art exploration, separated only by technique and application. Some of his most breathtaking exploratory works integrate painting with metal etching and relief printing. His extraordinary imaginative facility thus combines the mastery of transforming technique into form, providing a thorough understanding of the inner workings of the very process of art as “becoming” or as Ademola himself puts it: ‘It is within the terrain of the companionship between my consciousness and actions that the object bears the full weight of my thoughts and presence’. Throughout his creative career, Ademola is endowed with a rich subjective universe on an exploratory mission of discovery, and it is his job to provision a pathway to the ever striving endeavour of the subject’s curiosity towards new forms of self- awareness.” Len Folkes Sabbokai Gallery Curator
Woman Metal mix media on panel - 48 x 30 inches
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Ademola Akintola
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Ademola Akintola
Above: Dancing all Night Metal mix media on panel - 47.6 x 47.6 inches
Opposite: Labyrinth Metal mix media on panel - 48 x 30 inches
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Sketch me (with detail) Oil on canvas - 24 x 24 inches
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Boats (with detail) Acrylic on canvas - 30 x 30 inches
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Ademola Akintola
“That art or creativity is not replicating nature as it is, but interpreting it in your own language and expression.� Ademola Akintola
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Monolith I Metal foil on panel - 36 x 36 inches
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Artwork Analysis Ademola’s artistic pathway is rooted in the great History of Art and is legitimised by eminent intellectual guidance, however, this artist’s language never ceases to be an unequivocal channel that transmits intuitive emotions, a bridge between us and a desirable dream-like world, prompting spiritual and emotional reactions. The inspiration of a creativity free of artificial mediation reminds us of the genius of Paul Klee, who greatly admired children’s artistry, confident that an angelic mind is able to create a work of art beyond the boundaries of models or previous examples. Similarly, in the stunning canvas “Many Heads and One Fish” you perceive the effort to achieve a similar untutored simplicity, by employing contrasting colours inspired by the palette of the African landscape, and by drawing contour lines in an apparently unstudied and primeval manner. In fact, at a deeper analysis, this artistic approach shows a pure and radical creativity, the freedom of a child’s mind to instinctively represent the free flow of his dreams. Quoting the artist: “Children’s mind is fluid, not static nor rigid, it is revolutionary, not dictated by space but rather by what space is offering. It is innocent in all its forms.” In the process of breaking traditional or academic rules, Akintola keeps his fantasy within the realm of the “ordinary” but with a pinch of magic in his evocative surroundings. Like the various gradations of colour, the overlapping masks generates movement, compelling the spectator’s eye in many different directions, in a constant metamorphosis of points of view. Ademola not only sees beauty in the variations of the natural world and in the facets of the fluctuating humanity, but shares it through his oeuvre and enables us to see it.
Karen Lappon International Confederation of Art Critics
Many Heads and One Fish Oil on canvas - 37 x 25 inches
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Ademola Akintola
Grains of the Same Wood (with detail) Acrylic on panel - 48 x 36 inches
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“There is one thing I have learned and that is as an artist I may ‘finish’ a piece of artwork , but the work of art itself lives as a transforming moment allowing multiple interpretations to consciousness and in this sense disavows any thought of completeness”. Ademola Akintola
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Ademola Akintola
Lyrical Earth Oil on panel - 34 x 34 inches
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Monolith II Metal foil on panel - 36 x 36 inches
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Ademola Akintola
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Lyrical Earth (with detail) Acrylic on canvas - 34 x 34 inches
Figures in Motion Oil on canvas - 40 x 40 inches
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Wings of Freedom Oil on canvas - 48 x 30 inches
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Ademola Akintola
“The conceptuality of forms rendered abstractly, I have found out is the mother of art. It is intuitive, it is spiritual - it is from the soul, it is evocative, prompting an emotional reaction. It is the format in which reality is just an image�. Ademola Akintola
Angels of Colours Acrylic on canvas - 40 x 32 inches
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The Astronomers, 1997 Oil on canvas - 130x100 cm
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Ademola Akintola
Untitled III Acrylic on canvas - 40 x 32 inches
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Violinist Oil on canvas - 23.6 x 23.6 inches
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Ademola Akintola
Unbroken Spirit Metal mix media on panel
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Exhibitions and Awards
Selected Solo Exhibitions •
2014 Terra Kulture Gallery, Lagos, Nigeria
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1992 Chelsea Library, London
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Gill Gallery, London
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Lyric Theatre, London
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1991 Black Cultural Archive, London
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1990 Nigerian High Commission, London
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Commonwealth Institute, London
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1987 American Cultural Centre, Ibadan, Nigeria
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1984 National Museum, Jos, Nigeria
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1983 Cincinnati & New York Universities, USA
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Alliance Francaise, Ibadan, Nigeria
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1982 Alliance Francaise, Ibadan, Nigeria
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British Council, Kaduna, Nigeria
Selected Group Exhibitions •
2014 Andre Guichard Gallery, Chicago, USA
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1993 New York Art Expo, USA
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Haddenham Gallery, Ely, Cambridgeshire, UK
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Royal South West of England Show, UK
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Bishopsgate Institute, London
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1991 South of the World, Italy
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Tabernacle Gallery, London
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1990 Black Arts Gallery, London
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1988 Rockville Centre, Long Island, New York, USA
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Art on the Lake, Guntersville, Alabama, USA
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Indiana Black Exp., USA
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Ademola Akintola
Ademola Akintola with Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, the staff and the students of Charles Dickens Primary School in London.
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Exhibitions and Awards Residencies •
2002 Charles Dickens School, London
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2000 Whitgift School, Croydon
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1999/2000 Tate Gallery, London
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1995 Craft Council, London
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1994 EMACA Visual Arts, Nottingham, UK
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1993 ACFF, Nottingham, UK
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1991 Horniman Museum, London
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1988 Artist-in-Residence, Ipswich Museum, UK
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Artist-in-Residence, Bristol Museum, UK
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Indiana Children’s Museum, USA
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1987 Calhoun State University, Alabama, USA
Publications •
1994-1995 Illustrated “The River That Went To The Sky, Selected Stories by 12 African Authors”, published in the USA and UK by Kingfisher Books
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1993 Mentioned in the “Who’s Who of Nigerian Artists” by the Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, USA
Collections •
Horniman Museum London
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Private collections throughout the world
Awards • • • •
1993 Award Winner, Royal South West of England Show, Bath 1989 Award Winner, French Revolution Anniversary Competition, Lagos, Nigeria 1988 Award of Excellence, Art on the Lake, Guntersville, Alabama, USA Award of Excellence, Rockville Centre, Long Island, New York, USA
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Flight II Acrylic on canvas - 40 x 32 inches
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List of Works Tutuola, oil on canvas - 24 x 24 inches Elders, metal mixed media on panel - 20 x 30 inches Return of Eyo, oil on paper - 30 x 24 inches Orin Tuntun, oil on canvas - 40 x 36 inches Girls at Puberty, acrylic on panel - 60 x 48 inches Boat, oil on canvas - 30 x 24 inches Anetalia - Genitalia, mixed media on panel - 30 x 40 inches Embrace of Youthful Love, oil on canvas - 30 x 30 inches Fixation, oil on canvas - 44 x 38 inches Faces and Masks, oil on canvas - 39 x 28 inches Conception, acrylic on canvas - 39 x 39 inches Dancers, acrylic on canvas - 30 x 30 inches Composition with Lines, acrylic on canvas - 39 x 39 inches Cyclists, acrylic on canvas - 39 x 39 inches Masks, metal mix media on panel - 40 x 38 inches Ebun, oil on canvas - 24 x 24 inches Olori, oil on canvas - 36 x 30 inches Movement of Forms, oil on canvas, 40 x 40 inches Float, metal mix media on panel - 44 x 24 inches Woman, metal mix media on panel - 48 x 30 inches Symbols and Images, oil on panel - 40 x 30 inches Dancing all Night, metal mix media on panel - 47.6 x 47.6 inches Labyrinth, metal mix media on panel - 48 x 30 inches Sketch me, oil on canvas - 24 x 24 inches Boats, acrylic on canvas - 30 x 30 inches Monolith I, metal foil on panel - 36 x 36 inches Many Heads and One Fish, oil on canvas - 37 x 25 inches Grains of the Same Wood, acrylic on panel - 48 x 36 inches Lyrical Earth, oil on panel - 34 x 34 inches Monolith II, metal foil on panel - 36 x 36 inches Lyrical Earth, acrylic on canvas - 34 x 34 inches Figures in Motion, oil on canvas - 40 x 40 inches Wings of Freedom, oil on canvas - 48 x 30 inches Angels of Colours, acrylic on canvas - 40 x 32 inches Untitled III, acrylic on canvas - 40 x 32 inches Violinist, oil on canvas - 23.6 x 23.6 inches Unbroken Spirit, metal mix media on panel Market Women, acrylic on canvas - 30 x 30 inches Flight II, acrylic on canvas - 40 x 32 inches
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Edited and published by International Confederation of Art Critics London, 2016 Copyright © 2016 International Confederation of Art Critics Layout by Elena Foschi www.international-confederation-art-critics.org
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