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Though art patron
and amateur painter, Sefunmi Osioke Oyofo is late, she lives on in the
hearts of some artists. Eight of them: Olu Ajayi, Sam Ovraiti, Lekan
Onabanjo, Enotie Ogbebor, Ohiole Ohiwerei, Gerry Nnubia, and US-based
Ehi Obinyan and Pita Ohiwerei, recently held an exhibition in her
honour.

Titled ‘Promises
Kept’, the exhibition ran from January 13 to 19 at Terra Kulture,
Victoria Island, Lagos. Art collector, Rasheed Gbadamosi, and Oyofo’s
sisters, Odio Oseni and Omo Akpata were among guests at the opening of
the exhibition where the ‘Promises Kept Foundation’ was also unveiled.

The organisation,
according to its promoters, will continue Oyofo’s charity works with
less privileged children. It will also extend its activities to support
the education and healthcare needs of women.

“Some United States
based supporters plan to bring machines for medical tests to be donated
to major hospitals in Nigeria for free testing of women and children,”
they added.

Towards this end, 50 per cent of proceeds from the show were donated to the charity by the artists.

Viewers feasted on
the about 50 paintings and sculptures on display after Gbadamosi, chair
of the occasion, formally opened the exhibition.

Interestingly, some
works by Oyofo were also displayed. But unlike the other works which
were for sale, those of the late managing director of Juno Foods,
makers of Tropic Cornflakes, were not for sale. Her ‘Still Life’ series
comprising four framed pastel paintings of flowers and ‘Green house on
the Mount’ showed a painter who cared about nature.

Lover of fish

To underscore their
appreciation of Oyofo’s patronage, some of the artists made works
specially for the exhibition conceived about six months ago.

“I started painting
for the show; I picked a topic I know she enjoys and then I did another
one that I feel is good enough for international standard,” disclosed
Obinyan, who had two works, ‘Welcoming the Twins’ and ‘Dollz 4photo’ in
the show.

The painter, who
came to Nigeria purposely for the exhibition and whose ‘Welcoming the
Twins’ depicts fishes, added, “I had a special relationship with her
because I’m one of the few guys who paint fish. She loved fish
paintings so she used to buy every fish painting I made. She used to
say, ‘bring it, let me see it first before you take it to somebody
else’ and it never ended up in anybody else’s hands because she bought
anyone I brought.”

Passion for art

Former chair, Lagos
chapter of the Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA), Olu Ajayi, also
acknowledged Oyofo’s contribution to the arts.

“Sefunmi was
someone who loved the arts, someone who had passion for the arts. She
supported the Society of Nigerian Artists in my tenure and she brought
a lot of creative ideas in terms of corporate sponsorship.

“Sefunmi died at
40, unmarried. Sefunmi’s works tell you someone who wanted to practice
or develop her interest in visual art. She never exhibited when she was
alive because she considered herself not a professional but just an
amateur artist,” Mr. Ajayi said.

The artist, who had a painting titled ‘Symphony for Funmi’ among his
four works in the exhibition, added, “When she was alive she supported
and paid fees for secondary school students; she supported art clubs in
primary and secondary schools and even supported the Society of
Nigerian Artists. So, what other honour can I do but to stage an
exhibition and have her works that you would not have seen but for this
show to generate awareness and also show her works?”