Olubankole Olabode
Omenka Gallery presents ‘Road Less Travelled’ joint expo
Ikoyi, Lagos-based Omenka Gallery will present a joint exhibition of recent paintings by Derek Jahyem Jombo-Ogboi and Olubankole Olabode, two of the most exciting young artists working in Nigeria today, and recognised for successfully expanding boundaries less travelled by their peers.
The exhibition is expected to run from February 11 through to 25, at the gallery in Ikoyi, Lagos.
According to the Omenka Gallery, the exhibition titled; ‘Road Less Travelled,’ celebrates each artist’s underlying philosophy and unique approach to interrogating such pertinent issues as migration, identity, mythology and contemporary politics, through the juxtaposing of their individual styles and formal concerns.
Director of Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA), Lagos Oyinda Fakeye will also join both artists for a talk at the gallery at 1pm on February 15, 2023.
The conversation will revolve around each artist’s technique, process and underlying philosophy.
Derek Jahyem Jombo-Ogboi studied visual art at Yaba College of Technology.
He draws influences from his birth and childhood in Benin, to address issues surrounding identity, ethnicity and status. His stylistic direction has also been shaped by the classical masters and their approach to the human figure.
Painting primarily on canvas, he is similarly adept at graffiti and auditory mediums. In his painting, Jombo-Ogboi exhibits a calm academic realism finely blended with elements of the surreal. Heavily laden with metaphors, his work is distinguishable by its complex layers of interwoven narratives, an exceptional approach to composition, colour, space and light as well as a deftness in capturing his figures with empathy.
Olubankole Olabode’s multi-faceted practice embraces primarily painting, calligraphy and illustration.
His formal training began with a stint at Universal Studios of Art, Lagos where he refined his drawing skills. He went on to earn a National Diploma in fine art from Yaba College of Technology (2015).
Olabode explores a diversity of media ranging from pastels, graphite and charcoal to pen and ink, coffee, watercolour, oil and acrylic—the latter two being his most favoured.
Also, a talented muralist, his work centres on the religious and socio-political. In promoting critical thought and engaging conversations, Olabode employs satire as well as symbolic references as metaphors in addressing pertinent issues affecting Africa and her related diaspora. More recently, his body functions as the cynosure in paintings that at once become tools to interrogate, dismantle or reinforce often neglected societal values and knowledge systems.
In 2018, Bankole Olabode was appointed coordinator of “Art-in-the- Park Exhibition”, a weekend event to support emerging artists and market their works to prospective clients. He also participated in the 2014 edition of “Life in the City”, organised by Alliance Française. In 2010, he received the runner-up award in the Ben Enwonwu Foundation Young Artist of the Year competition, themed “Lagos, a Mega City”.
In addition, Olabode has executed several important commissioned murals and volunteered in many community art projects in Lagos including that of Falomo Bridge.
His works have been exhibited and collected both locally and internationally.
