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Sculptor Adeola
Balogun hopes to change his audience’s mindset with his upcoming
exhibition titled, ‘Infinite Patterns and Forms.’

The artist, whose
last solo show was in 2006, said the essence of exhibitions is “not
particularly about selling, but about what is new (from the artist).”
Balogun said his other role as an academic afforded him the luxury of
experimenting.

“These are some of
the things we should go into: the innovative and the experimental.
Experimenting is about pushing things in the market and making a
statement.”

Balogun’s statement
through his work is “for the emancipation of the people.” This
emancipation is majorly from negative thought, acts, and information.
Such negativity, he said, discourages people and leads to a lack of
progress.

Most of the works
Balogun will have on display at the Lekki-based Nike Art Gallery, come
May 29, are from discarded material (especially worn-out tyres)
suffused with deep messages. He relates how government disposes of its
staff when they are old and pensionable, to how tyres are disposed of
after they are worn out. In relation to how elected governments oppress
those who brought them to power, he draws from the Egungun masquerade
whose costumes are created by a community but that once dressed, the
Egungun becomes superior to its clothier.

The theme of his
exhibition is based on the infinity of God’s abundance, which man
dismisses and prefers to replace with negative thought. The exhibition
might end up as not just a visual feast, but a spiritual one as well.
Describing one of the works, the sculptor said, “There are a lot of
unseen wires out there. It depends on the one you connect to.”

He encourages the
power of positive thought as a way of making the most of bad
situations. “It’s possible to always think positively,” Balogun said,
adding that we should “be careful about the kind of energy we throw
outside.”

Stating his dislike
for monotony, the artist works with various materials cutting across
metal, wood, leather, bottle tops, bronze, copper, and glass fibre.

‘Infinite Patterns and Forms’ opens at the Nike Art Gallery in Lekki, Lagos, at 5pm on May 29.