Benedict Chukwukadibia Enwonwu M.B.E (Nigerian, 1917-1994) Ogolo
Provenance : [Timeline chronologique]
1988-01-01 | The composition and posture of the performer are similar to a work depicting the same subject executed in 1988, titled Spirit of Ogolo, (sold in our saleroom in May 2016)
[Propriété non datée]
- [and] a steady flow of thought and development
- I find it extremely beautiful.' Enwonwu's preoccupation with the Ogolo figure during the years 1988 to 1994, can also be explained by his own declining health
- He had been diagnosed with cancer in 1986
- Confronted by his own impending death, the symbol of Ogolo - a gatekeeper to the spiritual world - became particularly poignant
- As Nkiru Nzeguegwu explains, 'By attending to this close relationship between visual representation and cultural beliefs, Enwonwu successfully rescued for posterity the transformative element of creation that is central to Igbo conception of creativity.' Nzeguegwu continues to quote Enwonwu: 'In his view, nka (art, creativity and creative expression) is an 'invocation of ancestral spirits through giving concrete form or body to them before they can enter into the human world'' (p.50)
- This large oil is one of Enwonwu's greatest expressions of the subject
- The present lot is unusual within the genre in that the artist appears to have painted over another composition
- A signature and date are just visible 'Ben Enwonwu / Ife 1972'
- This composition is landscape in format, and one can just see the faint outlines of a male Purapakali dance ensemble
- The layering of the image contributes to the complexity and movement of the piece and perhaps leaving the original imagery just visible beneath was in fact intentional
- As Professor Ogbechie records when referencing the 1991 retrospective exhibition, it 'included new paintings reflecting his reconfiguration of the masquerade motif and revised paintings of some of his earlier pieces along this new thematic focus'
- Enwonwu's lifelong interest in dance forms was further fuelled when he met Peggy Harper, a dancer and choreographer who had travelled to Nigeria to study the forms of traditional West African dance
- Harper resided in Nigeria from 1963 to 1978, working first in the drama department and the institute of Africa studies at the University of Ibadan and then at the University of Ife
- Enwonwu sympathised with Harper's desire to preserve the region's traditional ceremonies
- Whilst she incorporated elements into her own performances, combining traditional sequences with contemporary western staging techniques, Enwonwu's paintings from the period provide a visual equivalent
- Nkiru Nzegwu, 'The Africanization Queen: Metonymic Site of Transformation', African Studies Quarterly, Volume 1, Issue 1 (1998), p. 50
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