VICTOR EKPUK’s solo exhibition “These Memories” at Morton Fine Art

These Moments : A solo exhibition of mixed media artwork by VICTOR EKPUK

Friday, May 12th – May 31st, 2017

 

EXHIBITION LOCATION

Morton Fine Art (MFA)

1781 Florida Ave NW (at 18th & U Sts)

Washington, DC 20009

HOURS

Tuesday – Saturday 11am – 6pm

Sunday 12pm-5pm

VICTOR EKPUK, Portrait Series #8, 2015, 48″x48″, acrylic on canvas

VICTOR EKPUK, Head 4, 2015, 45″x48″, acyrlic on panel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About VICTOR EKPUK & These Moments 

What can one say about an artist like Victor Ekpuk? Graphically stunning, with a carefully crafted use of color, and evincing a commitment to the power of the line, Ekpuk’s work in These Moments applies Ekpuk’s enviable skill, theoretical grounding, and consistent engagement with what it means to be human in a more figurative approach. These Moments highlight thirteen works all grounded by the form, structure, and strength of the bold line’s arc through space. Inspired in part by a four-month residency in Nigeria, the country of his birth, Ekpuk was struck by how central the head was in daily life in Lagos. Ekpuk explains that he was “struck by people carrying things on their heads, metaphorically or otherwise.” – Izetta Autumn Mobley, 2017

These Moments marks VICTOR EKPUK’s third solo exhibition at Morton Fine Art.  His artwork is included in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Institution Nation Museum of African Art, Brooks Museum, Krannert Art Museum, US Department of State, Newark Museum, Arkansas Art Center, Fidelity Investments,  The World Bank, and University of Maryland University College Art Collection.

 

Click HERE to view available artwork by VICTOR EKPUK.

 

VICTOR EKPUK, At the Water’s Edge, 25″x19″, ink, graphite and pastel on paper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Self Portrait Benin Head” by OSI AUDU

 

OSI AUDU, Self Portrait Benin Head, 2016, 36″x40″, pastel & graphite mounted on canvas About Self Portrait Benin Head The overall shape of this work was inspired by the abstract geometric possibilities in the traditional Benin sculpture of the Head of the Queen Mother. I explore the light sheen of graphite, the matte, light absorbing quality of black pastel, the white of paper and canvas, as well as the visually affecting interactions of colors to investigate form and its evocative potential to suggest or hint at something about the shape of the head. I am interested in the dualism of form and void, and the ontological relation between the tangible and intangible, something and nothing, light and dark, body and mind, the dual nature of being – the self in portraits. The construction of a sense of self is a very complex process, perhaps even more so in our increasingly global age, in which the boundaries between race, nationality, gender and sexuality are getting more and more blurred. I am interested in issues of self identity, and in concepts of the self rooted in my cultural experiences growing up in Nigeria, as well as global metaphysical, scientific, and social concepts of the self. There is a Yoruba thought that consciousness, referred to as the “head”, has both a physical dimension called the “outer head” and a non-physical one: “the inner head”. It is the visual implications of concepts like this that I find intriguing. The title, Self-Portrait, in my work, is more about the portrait of the intangible self, rather than a literal portrait of the artist. – OSI AUDU Click HERE to view available artwork by OSI AUDU.

VICTOR EKPUK’s “Hip Sistas in Flux : The Visual-Lingual Braid” reviewed by ArtCentron

ART

May 25, 2015 

Hairstyles, Tattoos and Body Markings Signifier Women’s Pride

posted by ARTCENTRON

Victor Ekpuk, Asian Uboikpa (Hip Sista) Series #.11, 2015 . acrylic on canvas 60′ x 48′. Image courtesy of Morton Fine Art

REVIEW

Victor Ekpuk’s new drawings and paintings investigate hairstyles and body markings as forms of self-expression and pride among women

BY KAZAD

WASHINGTON DC.- Several years ago, Victor Ekpuk began exploring the art of hairstyles and body markings among young women of southeastern Nigeria. His objective was not just aesthetics but also the need to reveal the importance of hairstyles and body markings as forms of self-expression and pride among African women. The result of that exploration is a collection of paintings Ekpuk titled Mbobo or Maiden Series.

The paintings and drawings that emerged from Ekpuk’s investigation of the art of hairstyles and body markings among young women of southeastern Nigeria are very instructive. They illuminate how effective hairstyles and body markings are efficient means of accentuating pride and self-actualization among African women. The Mbobo(maiden) Series go from series 1 to 10. The oil on canvas paintings emphasis the importance of hair to black/African women and why it is often described as the crown of her glory.

While many of the paintings and drawings from the Mbobo (maiden) Series address the importance of women’s hairstyles among African women, they also bring to focus the creativity of the hairstylists who create the amazing hair designs. Many of the hairstylists and designers learned their crafts through apprenticeship, from relatives, and friends. Although many of the hairstyles continue to conform to traditions, others have evolved to accommodate modern ideas.

Historically, hairstyles and body markings have been integral to African societies. Hairstyles, body markings, and tattoos are not just a source of pride and self-expression but also signifier of status and aesthetics. In some Nigerian societies, hairstyles and body markings indicate the position and status of women. Among the Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa, for instance, hairstyles, body markings, and tattoos are effective means of establishing the authorities of woman.

Since that first exploration about 2008, Ekpuk has continued to explore the theme of hairstyle designs in his works, expanding his oeuvres to include body markings, tattoos and body scarifications. Presently at the Morton Fine Art in Washington DC is an exhibition that illustrates Ekpuk’s expansion of the art of hairstyle design from the Nigerian context to the Diaspora.

Titled Asian Uboikpa (Hip Sistas) in Flux: The Visual-Lingual Braid, the exhibition uses the exploration of hairstyles and body markings in southeastern Nigeria as the pedestal for investigating the culture of hairstyles and body markings in the Diaspora. Asian Uboikpa, an Ibibio expression, references proud young women and virgins, while Hip Sista is an African American term used to describe highly fashionable women.

In his recent paintings examining hairstyles and body markings, Ekpuk continues to expand his use of Nsibidi, the West African ideographic, to create a visual language that has situated him at the center of contemporary African art discourse in the West. Unlike in the past when his use of and interpretation of Nsibidi was limited to Nigeria and Africa, in his recent paintings, the West African ideographic system bridges the contemporary mode and cultural heritage.

The motifs inherent in Ekpuk’s recent paintings emulate designs of African fabrics design, jewelry, piecing, tattoos and scarification in such a way that dispenses with a singular cultural identity. There is a hybridization of forms and ideas from multiple sources and cultures. For a Nigerian artist who has travelled the globe presenting his works in museums and galleries, the confluence of ideas is not unusual.

The focus of many of the paintings and drawings on exhibition in Asian Uboikpa (Hip Sistas) in Flux: The Visual-Lingual Braid is content over form. There is a deliberate attempt to elevate substance over form in many of the paintings that are characterized by backgrounds with heavy motifs.

Please contact Morton Fine Art for available artworks by VICTOR EKPUK. 

Morton Fine Art, 1781 Florida Ave NW, Washington, DC 20009, (202) 628-2787, http://www.mortonfineart.com , mortonfineart@gmail.com

To read this article in full please visit the following link: http://artcentron.com/2015/05/25/hairstyles-signifier-pride/#prettyPhoto