At the Fontini Cristi Art Studios Artist Xrays Nigerian condition on oil and canvas

By Bob MajiriOghene Etemiku

A Nigerian artist, Semmi Adam, has held a solo exhibition of his paintings titled ‘Unveil’ at the Fontini Cristi Art Studio at Ulomo Crescent off Joromi Road in Benin City. The exhibition which is the artist’s first showcased use of acrylic on canvas, a mix of gold on black, sort of to highlight themes relevant to the Nigerian condition.

Just before the exhibition proper, the artist, Semmi Adam said that he decided to use art to express himself because he finds it very useful as a medium to comment on the Nigerian condition.

‘Painting speaks better than words. I hardly talk much, and since I don’t like talking, I can SHOW my emotions and reflect on circumstances around affect me through painting. I don’t really like the way things are now in Nigeria, and I desire to use my paintings to introduce changes’, Mr Adam said.

The artist who began painting in 2016 has a robust digital presence. Part of the works which were on display at the solo exhibition include ‘Somewhere in Yemetu’, ‘Mother and Child’ and ‘Madam How Much?’ In ‘Somewhere in Yemetu’, the artist told attendees that the painting highlighted the inequalities in the living conditions of Nigerians. ‘Yemetu is a slum somewhere in Ibadan existing side by side a high profile environment. People there try to eke a living here and there, mostly through street trading and hard hustling. Trading in Yemetu goes on all night, and that is where you find certain aspects of the Nigerian will to survive in spite of the daunting circumstances’.

Dignity in Labour by Semmi Adam

In ‘Madam How Much’, the artist reflects on the often changing price of foodstuff in the market. ‘Prices of Nigerian foodstuff changes so fast. If you buy something in the morning in Nigeria today, you find that the cost of that same commodity will not be the same in the evening so you have to ask, Madam how much?’ Mr Adam said.

In ‘Mother and Child’, Mr Adam makes a comment on family values. ‘Motherhood is everything. A mother is someone whose connection you can feel even though they are no longer there. But that’s not the case in Nigeria today. Many mothers just drop off their children in school, and hardly bother to follow up on the progress of the child. Most of the children have been brought up to believe that certain professions like tailoring, music and art are for poor people. To try to change that narrative, I painted a piece, ‘Dignity in Labour’.

The exhibition had 30 paintings making up some of Semmi’s oeuvre.  Semmi trained as an artist from the University of Benin, and currently teaches at the Igbinedion Education Centre, Benin City.

Uchenna Umeh, CEO of Fontini Cristi Art Gallery said that the ‘Unveil’ Solo Exhibition was put in place to try to maintain visual art expression as a driver to predict the future, to interrogate policies, human behaviours and to question belief.

‘Semmi is an emerging and unassuming 21st Century contemporary painter of light and shade. He is a philosopher who is trying to share ideas and communicate knowledge through Art’, Mr Umeh said.

Aisosa Igbinoba was one of the attendees. He told WADONOR that he was impressed with the body and quality of work put in place by one as young as Semmi. ‘I hope he goes far’, Mr. Igbinoba said.