Salah Day “Durbar” – 2018
Oil on Canvas | 127 x 97 cm
From the Curator :
"This powerful almost historical painting captures the energy and movement of the Durbar festival on Salay Day with remarkable intensity. We are impressed by the masterful handling of light and shadow, with lighter areas drawing the eye across the canvas, while deeper shadows add depth and volume, enhancing the three-dimensional feel. The horsemen, focused on the foreground, are rendered with intricate detail and textural depth through vigorous, impasto strokes characteristic of Expressionism. This technique enhances the emotional resonance of the scene, prioritizing the emotional experience over physical realism. Oyedemi employs his usual rich and complex earthy palette of browns, golds, and ochre, harmonized with splashes of vibrant reds and whites to highlight the horsemen's attire and the adornments on the horses."
Shipping: Canvas provided rolled and ready to be stretched on a frame.
About the artist
John Oyedemi, hailing from South Nigeria was born in 1966, resides and practises in Bukuru. Graduating from the Department of Fine Arts at the renowned Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Oyedemi perceives art as a means for individuals to construct an alternative reality, offering a second perspective on existence through imagination.
Currently a lecturer at the University of Jos, his Durbar paintings illustrate "Padanci" in the Hausa language, vivid portraits of wealth and power.
He spent his early years in the market selling any item that could bring money, "it was an exciting moment in life with so many stories to tell today", he recalls.
He likes to combine the impasto colour technique for thematic analysis of the events, combined with an impressionist approach to his subjects, to bring the very essence of the moment to the fore. Over the last 25 years, he has expressed his passion for North Nigeria's scenery and royalties through his iconic equestrian and Durbar scenes.
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