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Standing tall on
Ayobola Street in the Alagbado area of Lagos is a building that is
architecturally sculptured in metal designs. The aesthetics will cause
any passer-by to stop and wonder who could have thought so creatively
in designing the house. It is not very surprising to learn that the
house belongs to Adeola Balogun, sculpture lecturer at the Yaba College
of Technology (YABATECH).

No sooner than I
entered the artist’s studio in the house that he started talking about
an art work he is working on. Balogun’s phone beeped and he answered.
“Give me like an hour,” he told his caller. “Boy, I have only 30
minutes to spend here, I need to meet a client,” he said after
receiving the call. That made me realise how busy Balogun is even when
he is not teaching. “I thought today is a Sunday and you are supposed
to be having your rest,” I noted. “Rest”? He asked. “You can’t eat your
cake and have it. Do you think business and pleasure go together?”

Artistic foundation

Born on November
17, 1966 in Otta, Ogun State, Balogun grew up in Lagos. The academic
moved back to Otta, a city known for Egungun festivals in 1979, in
pursuit of education. That childhood exposure to masquerades’
ornamented attire would later influence his works.

Balogun, son of
Muslim parents, attended Quranic School (known locally as ‘Ile-Kewu’)
early and was forbidden from Oke’de, Otta, where masquerades performed.
This stimulated his interest in religion and faith, and made him
research Egungun later in life.

Balogun was
influenced to study art from childhood by his environment, and by a
teacher who noticed his innocent drawings. He learnt his trade formally
at Yabatech where he bagged the Best Student Award in the Department of
Fine Arts; and was retained as a lecturer for his brilliance after his
youth service. The artist still thirsted for knowledge, and proceeded
to obtain his Masters degree in Fine Art (MFA) from the University of
Benin in 2004.

Art of used tyres

Balogun’s new solo
exhibition titled ‘Infinite Patterns and Forms’, features works made
from used and abandoned tyres. Okada (motorcycles) tyres feature
prominently as a medium in the new artworks. Why used tyres?

His answer: “It’s
like a metaphor; I am relating the lifestyle of typical civil servants
in Nigeria to that of used and abandoned tyres. When I buy tyres for my
cars, I go to the extent of polishing them virtually every week after
washing them with black-gold patina to give them the sheen. Whenever I
see them, I feel happy because they appear beautiful. After a period,
the tyres get worn-out and they don’t appeal to one again.

“What follows is
that one finds a way to dispose them. The irony of this is that these
are tyres that served me for long but now that they are old, I need to
dispose them. This could be [compared] to the lifestyle of civil
servants in the country.

“In this part of
the world, when workers are in active service, the government takes
care of them. But immediately they are not useful again, probably
because they have attained the retirement age, government does away
with them.

“These one-time
heroes don’t get paid on time; most of them die before their benefits
are paid. Those who do not die probably become burdens to the society
and to their immediate family – like abandoned tyres which litter the
streets and block drainages during flood. This is the perspective I
have thought and [it] really inspired me to pass the message across.”

Art of masquerades

The artist also explained why masquerades, which have fascinated him since childhood, are represented in this exhibition.

“In reality,
masquerades’ attires are made by people and are beautifully adorned
with several ornaments. Immediately the masquerades come out to
perform, they become an idol and people turn them to gods by singing
their praises while worshipping them, whereas they are empowered by the
same people.

“This scenario has
been critically looked into and likened to that of a politician. Before
election, they eat, dine and wine with colleagues, but as soon as they
hold the staff of office they turn to something else.

“These are
ensembles that cost much to design and elections that nearly emptied
our treasury. At the end, what do we get from it? Nothing. “What I
advocate for is that power belongs to individual and not the other way
round,” he added.

Art and Nigeria’s economy

Making positive
comments is also a focus of ‘Infinite Patterns and Forms’. “For
instance, we all know that in Nigeria, the power supply is epileptic.
Why don’t we channel our energy positively towards how can we better
what we have, rather than just seeing things in negative directions?

“Let us shift our
attention from lack and not allow what is going on in our society to
subdue us. Because the more we think about the problem, the more we get
into it. So, what am advocating through my works is that we should take
our minds off the problem and shift them on the solution.”

Balogun has held
solo and group exhibitions within and outside Nigeria. He facilitated
at the recently concluded Harmattan workshop in Agbarha Otor, Delta
State.

‘Infinite Patterns and Forms’ opens on May 29 at the Nike Art Gallery, 2 Elegushi Street, 2nd Roundabout, Lekki Phase I, Lagos.