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Legendary cartoonist
and artist Josy Ajiboye’s solo exhibition is set to open at Terra
Kulture, Lagos, on March 12. Titled ‘People and Places: Nigeria 2’, the
exhibition will feature 30 of his artworks and will be on display till
March 18.

The exhibition is a
continuation of ‘People and Places’, a joint exhibition the artist held
with his family in 2008, which was staged to celebrate Nigeria’s
independence.

The latest
exhibition is a reflection on the artist’s “thoughts on the glorious
years of the country, the challenges of today, and perhaps the prospects
of tomorrow.”

Ajiboye was for 29
years a cartoonist and graphic artist at The Daily Times Newspaper,
where he became a household name, thrilling generations of readers with
his humorous and thought-provoking graffiti on Nigerian realities. He
retired from the Daily Times in 2000.

Speaking on February
23 with members of the press about the forthcoming exhibition, he
revealed that the theme of the exhibition is not based on any single
subject matter.

“Some of the paintings contain my childhood experiences,” said the artist, who declared that painting is his first love.

He also disclosed
that while he was working with the Daily Times, he was also painting,
but they are small paintings done with pastels and oil, and they were
few and far between. After leaving the newspaper, he focused solely on
painting.

A quartet

Four of the
paintings to be featured in ‘People and Places: Nigeria 2’ were on
display at the Terra Kulture Art Gallery during the press conference. On
‘The Way to My Town’, a landscape painting, Ajiboye said, “I remember
travelling through roads like that in my hometown and encountering all
kinds of birds and monkeys. It’s a flashback to my childhood.”

Another piece,
‘Anthills’, further reveals his fondness for nature. ‘Religious
Politics’ is a treatise on the danger of letting religious violence go
on unchecked, citing examples such as the recent Boko Haram crisis in
the North. According to Ajiboye, the painting was born out of a cartoon
which he did in the 80’s for the editorial page of the Daily Times, a
response to the Maitasine riots in Northern Nigeria.

The fourth painting,
‘Olokun’, reflects cultural assertion. “I always like people to know
that Art in Africa has always been. The same way Art had always existed
in Italy and Florence centuries back.”

Landscape artist

On why he seemed to
lean more towards landscape Art, the artist replied that, “When I hold
colour, sometimes it is to express peace, sometimes happiness. While I
was a cartoonist, it was a mixture of abstraction and landscape. If I am
commissioned to do abstract, I do it.”

He added that, “I
want people to see my painting and enjoy it immediately they see it. I
love people, culture, places, and the best way for me is to go straight
to the point.”

“I chose the medium I
like. For instance, in music, if you say Jazz is popular, it’s still
limited to a particular group of people. I don’t paint because of what
is in vogue. I paint what I want.”

Ajiboye is impressed
by the current spate of interest in Art in Lagos. Comparing the present
with the ‘50s, the artist who has lived in Lagos as far back as the
‘50s said that, “There were times that for 3 months no exhibitions were
held in the city.”

“We had only one
exhibition centre and it was only expatriates that came to exhibit,” he
added. “Then came the 1960’s. The Society of Nigerian Artists was
already on. Before then, there was not much Art activity compared with
what is happening now,” he stated.

Ajiboye has
exhibited both within and outside the country and is listed in ‘Nigeria
Artists: A Who’s Who’ and Bibliography of Smithsonian Institute,
Washington DC.

Josy Ajiboye’s
‘People and Places: Nigeria 2’ is at Terra Kulture, Tiamiyu Savage
Street, Victoria Island, Lagos from March 12 to 18.