Afro Puff

E K'ABO'S Bunmi Akpata-Ohohe meets Nigerian-Canadian visual artist and poet Komi Olafimihan (Komi Olaf), as he prepares for a major exhibition at the celebrated Agora Fine Art Gallery located in the art galleries district of Chelsea, New York, USA.

Award-winning Nigerian visual artist and poet Komi Olafimihan (Komi Olaf) is making the best of his two identities - Nigerian and Canadian. The play between these two identities is apparent in this talented Nigerian-Canadian's drawings as he draws influence from both Africa and the West. Olafimihan is a conventional painter, and his energy flows through his designs even though his works are based primarily in acrylic. Olafimihan, who currently lives in Toronto, Canada, is a fulltime artist, but it wasn't always so; he worked for many years at a bank in order to fund his career in the visual arts and his income from that job was what he used to jumpstart his several projects. But today, his paintings are priced from $2,000 to $8,500 or more. His works have been featured in exhibitions at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and the National Arts Center in Ottawa. Olafimihan has also received several awards, including the Empowerment and Success Award presented by the then Governor General of Canada Michaelle Jean in 2010.

Self Portrait

Olaf is warming up for an arts exhibition at the celebrated Agora Fine Art Gallery located in the district of Chelsea, New York, USA. The exhibition will feature three of his best paintings titled 'Self-portrait for my future daughter', 'Cross Section of the Afro-puff' and 'Forbidden fruit'.

Explaining these outstanding works, Olafimihan described 'Self Portrait for my future daughter' as a self-portrait he painted when he was at "a definitive cross road of my life." He went on: "Both of my parents are architects and from a young age I believed I would grow up to be one as well. After completing my Master's in Architecture the rational decision was to continue my career and get my license to become a practising architect. However, the calling of my heart towards art in which I have received no formal training was overwhelming. The foetus in the bubble is a metaphor for my unborn children, the buildings in my hand representing architecture. The paint in my hand represents art, the gramophone in my heart, the voice to which I listen. The cross section of the Afro-puff was an attempt to pull all the skills I had acquired over the years in poetry, architecture and painting; the emergent genre of afro-futurism provided me with a platform to experiment."

'Cross Section of the Afro-puff' underlines Olafimihan's desire for unity between the younger generation of Africans in Africa and those of African descent in the Diaspora. A "section" in architectural terms is an imaginary cut through a building showing all its constituent parts and how they interact with each other - in the case of this painting, the minds of the youth.

The "Ankh" is the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol for the key of life represents those of African descent in the Diaspora. "Gye Nyame" is the Adinkra symbol from Ghana for the supremacy of God and the inherent beauty of the universe representing Africans in Africa in the painting. The two are connected by the history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Though many currently propagate the use of violence to solve problems, Olafimihan believes that the recipe for peace is education.

His third choice of painting is an interesting one and the title 'Forbidden Fruit' will raise eye-brows. Was this intentional to provoke?

Olaf's reply: "In the Bible, we are told that when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit that was forbidden by God their eyes were open, they knew that they were naked and were cast out of the Garden of Eden. The inspiration came when I started to realise how much of our African history has been buried for generations, leading to the under-representation of African contribution to the world as a whole. In the painting, I invite the viewer to partake of this forbidden fruit of knowledge and journey back into the metaphorical Garden of Eden our ancestors were strategically building for us."

Kalakuta Republic

E K'ABO: Why exhibiting at Agora Gallery and why showing only these three works?
Olafimihan: The gallery actually approached me earlier this year after they came across my portfolio online. They represent artists from all over the world and are focused on connecting art collectors with emerging and established artists. I believe the three paintings were chosen by the gallery to serve as an introduction to my work more from a commercial stand point. The owner of the gallery mentioned to me that there is a serious under-representation of black and contemporary African art in the art industry, which is gap they are intent on closing. So these three paintings are OK for now. Too much all at once could be overpowering.

E K'ABO: This is a group exhibition titled 'Beyond Borders: An Exhibition of Fine Art from Canada'. What brought you to such an antithesis?
Olafimihan: From the moment I painted for the first time in my life in 2007, all the works I have produced have sought to glorify Africa in some way. When I made a conscious decision to pursue art as a career the major road blocks I faced were based on the content of my work. Galleries refused to show the work based on the misconception that it was "offensive", "disconnected" and downright "un-sellable". I was once advised to concentrate on painting flowers. It is evident that there is a huge misrepresentation of what we have come to define as African not only in the art world but also in the media. As opposed to complaining or conforming I saw what looked like an opportunity to speak my truth as well as challenge the stereotypes that we are coerced into propagating as artists in general and "African artists" specifically.

Forbidden Fruit

E K'ABO: Tell us more about the New York exhibition and what people will take away from it.
Olafimihan: Well, it is a group exhibition showing talents from Canada and the audience will have an opportunity to see the ideas that are brewing just across the border. Canadians and Americans though very close geographically have a very subtle difference ideologically which will show in the works. In addition to my work there will be amazing paintings from other artists such as Edward Bahoric, Marianne Meyer, Zeinab Shaban, Carole St-Germain, Donna Giraud, Cote, Lina Faroussi and Jennifer Gough.

EK'ABO: Do you have a favourite piece from the collection?
Olafimihan: Well, over the years I have produced a few collections and have one or two favourites from each. But as cliché as it may sound, it is the equivalent of asking a mother which is her favourite child. Each one of the painting has a piece of my soul inside, which is why I find it extremely difficult to sell some paintings regardless of the amount of money offered. But my favourite painting is usually my most recent.

E K'ABO: I must say your works are highly detailed and inspiring. Who or what influences your practice?
Olafimihan: I have so many influences it will bore you if I started listing them. However, my influences span different genres; from poetry to architecture, history, music and finally within the visual arts numerous sculptors, painters, illustrators and cartoonists. But, to name a few, I am influenced by the details of Mati Klarwein compositionally and the portraits of Chuck Close, the emotional manifestation in the paintings of Frida Khalo, the surrealism of Salvador Dali, the chiaroscuro of Carravagio and most importantly the politics of Ben Enwonwu and the line work of Tayo Quaye.

E K'ABO: Where do you get your inspiration?
Olafimihan: While on a poetry tour in Europe, a woman I met introduced me to an artist called Manuel Hughes from Harlem who had his studio in Paris. After an afternoon of coffee and conversation I asked him to critique my work. He advised that in order to push my work to a higher level I need to stop looking around me for inspiration and journey within myself. I took that advice as gold and followed suit. I realised that I can speak clearly only about the things that I have come to know and experience, which end up manifesting in my work as an artist and as a poet. I believe that my job as an artist is to witness, experience, observe and report - learning and adjusting along the way. The more I journey to become a better person, the brighter the work becomes.

E K'ABO: Having seen your works online they appear to be of the best quality. What's your philosophy regarding quality?
Olafimihan: I have learned that it is important to create the kind of work you like to see. Through studying thousands of paintings online and in person I learned that the works I was most drawn to held a combination of beautifully well-constructed compositions and high technical painting practices. My background is in architecture, and in school a beautiful project poorly crafted will earn you a zero. I believe that if we can create African art that tells our own stories with the same technical skills as the Dutch masters, for example, the audience will be forced to pay attention. That is eventually the technical standard I want to carry my work to.

E K'ABO: Have you shown in Nigeria? If not, have you thought of about it?
Olafimihan: Unfortunately, I have not shown in Nigeria yet. But, it would be a dream come true. It was not until last year I started receiving requests for my work in Nigeria, mostly through individuals and private companies. The demand has led me to start exploring options of having an exhibition in Nigeria, Ghana and most recently England.

E K'ABO: How would you describe your art style? Is it redemptive, ethical or relative, rather than political?
Olafimihan: I have tried to stay away from my personal politics when it comes to my work but it always finds a way to manifest. I don't think I have a specific style. However, I try to convey my message as clearly and simply as possible.

E K'ABO: When drawing what is your end goal?
Olafimihan: When drawing, my goal is to simplify my thoughts as clearly as possible. It is easy to over-complicate a simple idea. I draw with the intention that it could one day become a painting so it becomes very important to solve as many composition problems in the drawing before committing to the painting, which takes significantly longer to finish.

EK'ABO: What more would you like to achieve?
Olafimihan: My life is a book full of blank pages. I am open. I choose to take the days as they come. I want to keep painting and eventually build some of the things I paint. The opportunities that have started manifesting have been taking the shape of lectures and performances - which is something I am very happy about. I am also looking at the option of pursuing a PhD to give me the framework I will need to crystallise my ideas into something very well structured that will give me a platform to combine painting, poetry and architecture.

The exhibition opens October 10
@ Agora Gallery,
530 West 25th Street New York, NY 10001
Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 11am - 6pm
Tel: (+1) 212-226-4151 Fax: (+1)212-966-4380

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1 Bisi Oluyemi Aturamu 2014-10-02 03:07:21 Proud of you, keep it on, but don't forget the "Makoko" project completely. Still waiting for you to explore the poetry, and art instincts for now. It is a blessing. Best of luck