As a demonstration of Rand Merchant Bank Nigeria ’s commitment to promoting the arts industry, the bank will be hosting an exhibition of graduate artists and emerging artists.
They include Akin Aluko, Chioma Ekpetorson, Iyunola Sanyaolu, Ayanfeoluwa Olarinde, Washington Mosadioluwa and Wahab Saheed anchored by Duke Asidere, a renowned Artist.
The Rand Merchant Bank Nigeria Artists Graduate Program was established as part of the bank’s fifth anniversary program in June 2018.
According to a statement, the level of professionalism and creativity of the artists led bank to formalise the program. Every year, the best student in the art department of universities across the country will be eligible to join the program for a period of three years.
Michael Larbie, CEO of RMB Nigeria and Regional Head West Africa stated that RMB Nigeria invests in young artists in order to contribute to the overall creative economy of Nigeria. RMB believes that art, culture & creativity contributes to a strengthened economy.
Olarinde is a nationally recognised scribble artist from Nigeria. Emoting through the ranging thickness of her scribbling, she finds harmony in jaga-jaga (crooked lines) which became a skillset forged from the heat of frustration along the path to self-discovery upon which she found her truth. Her artworks are represented globally, on platforms like Reuters,NowThisNews, CNN, Konbini etc. She has also participated in group exhibitions in Lagos.
Also, Aluko is a visual artist/filmmaker, specializing in drawing, painting and filmmaking. A graduate of Ladoke Akintola University ofTechnology with a degree in Fine and Applied Art, and a diploma in filmmaking. He is a figurative-impressionist with works exhibiting dramatic and cinematic lighting to evoke a certain emotion or response. Similarly, Mosadioluwa is a multidisciplinary visual artist working in various mediums. He studied Creative Arts and has a BA from the University of Lagos. Washington is also a graduate of the Federal College of Education (Technical) Akoka. He is an artist with a great passion for facial expressions and moods. He is a Visual Artist and a professional painter.
Ekpetorson, born in 1991 in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, is a graduate of the department of Fine Arts and Design, University of Port-Harcourt. She had her industrial training at the Universal Studios of Art, under the tutelage of Masters Abiodun Olaku, Joshua Nmesirionye amongst others. She draws her influence from various artists including Masters Olusegun Adejumo, Edosa Ogiugo, Ejoh Wallace amongst others.
Saheed attended the distinguished Yaba College of Technology, where he earned his national diploma (ND) in 2016 and 2019, a higher national diploma (HND) in painting. Wahab’s artistic practice borders around issues of societal inclinations, identity such as ethnic heritage, sex or one’s body. He uses his work to express, explore and question ideas about identity.
Sanyaolu is a graduate of the University of Lagos, where she studied painting and was awarded the female visual artist of the year 2018, from the Department of Creative Arts, University of Lagos. Iyunola enjoys experimenting, which influences her artistic practice.
Duke Asidere’s multimedia practice reflects his upbringing, with the recurring theme of the female form, as a homage to the women who have raised him. Asidere has participated in and facilitated numerous international and local workshops on painting, photography, and drawing, including Colour Masters, Auchi Polytechnic (2011), and the annual Harmattan Workshop Series in Lagos.
