For the legendary Beninese artist, Ludovic Fadairo, his first solo exhibition in Nigeria is a comeback and a rekindle of his spirituality. Yinka Olatunbosun reports
Ludovic Fadairo had wanted to pursue a musical career at first. He had a group. But music was such a hard sell at the time. He had to change his mind. In 1972, Fadairo did a painting and sold it for 100 CFA francs and he realised that it was lucrative. He saw that music was more challenging because he had to work with more people to music and he saw that he could make more money from music.
He travelled to study more about painting. Born on August 21, 1947, at Zinvie, Fadairo is a Beninese master respected in the contemporary African art scene and indeed the world. He had a traditional education at the Art School in Amsterdam, returned soon after, and developed a unique language in trans materiality and texture.
Fadairo’s oeuvre encompasses painting, installation, sculpture, and works in mixed media. Typically, he seeks to understand the media he employs, which range from the traditional to the highly unorthodox including chalks and natural pigments. His 3-dimensional figures are imaginative, emotive, and charged with immediacy.
Details are everything to him. Fadairo’s perfect control of detail emerges and develops as the artist breathes life into various symbols and compelling themes.
Although Fadairo’s work has been exhibited across Europe and Asia, this is the first time of exhibiting at a gallery in Nigeria. Through an interpreter, he recounted how he had witnessed the most iconic cultural event in Nigeria- FESTAC ’77, adding that he still has a friend and a brother in Bruce Onobrakpeya. For him, this solo show is a homecoming and an opportunity to connect with his spirituality. Titled What We Don’t See, the show runs from March 4 to April 2 at Soto Gallery, Ikoyi.
Known for developing his works in an organic way, Fadairo grew up in a family where they did a lot of traditional worship. Hence, he started searching for God by himself.
“I get his own image from my own thinking and perspective. I create my ideas in concrete form having been inspired in spirit,” he said.
When asked why he seems to be preoccupied with spirituality, he explained his point of view.
“God is everywhere, in every person. I look for God in everything I do. From the food I eat I try to know God. From the water I drink, I try to know God. God is everywhere and in everything.
“There are some things you see that others don’t see. There are some things you hear that others don’t hear. The idea is to keep passing on the message. We refuse to see God in all we do because we have different ways of communicating with God.”
Over 20 pieces of works are to be shown at the exhibition. Sometimes his works are quite abstract and meditative. This body of works takes a close and comprehensive look at the illustrious career of this Beninese master.
At 75, his practice spans over four decades, and his output rank amongst the most prodigious in contemporary art within and beyond Africa. This exhibition is the first major survey of Fadairo’s work in Nigeria and English-speaking West Africa. A well-known and respected figure within artistic and intellectual circles in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, he will be making his Nigerian debut with a selection of works that showcase the artist’s unflagging vitality over the years and his continued interest in the interplay between the creative and the spiritual.
“We’re incredibly honoured to present Ludovic Fadairo’s work for the first time in Nigeria,” the Director, Soto Gallery, Tola Akerele says. “With this exhibition, we hope to help begin the process of re-evaluating Fadairo’s place in the canon of African art. He is a pioneer whose contributions, given due assessment, should remain relevant for at least another few generations. His paintings have been shown in the great art capitals of the world so we consider this exhibition evidence of Lagos’s rising esteem as well as a significant achievement for Soto.”
