- Title: Coloring outside the lines: a Nigerian artist has created his own art form
- Date: 25th October 2019
- Summary: LAGOS, NIGERIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) MASKED ARTIST YUSUFF ABOGUNDE DRAWING ON THE SCREEN MASKED ARTIST ABOGUNDE DRAWING ON A WHITE SURFACE HAND HOLDING PAINT HAND DRAWING LINES AND PATTERNS VARIOUS OF MASKED MAN DRAWING TIME-LAPSE SHOWING MASKED ARTIST ABOGUNDE DRAWING MASKED ARTIST ABOGUNDE REMOVING HIS MASK COMPLETED ART WORK (SOUNDBITE) (English) ABSTRACT ARTIST, YUSUFF ABOGUNDE, SAYING: "I was trying to receive a call and waiting for the person to tell me what to write down, at a certain time, my hands started drawing lines in different motions on a small paper - then I didn't call it Ainaism. I really didn't even know my name was Aina until my mom told me, so I decided to keep drawing this same particular pattern, line motions you know because it is something I have not really seen before then." VARIOUS OF WALL AND GUITAR WITH LINES AND PATTERNS DRAWN ON THEM VARIOUS OF WALL COVERED IN PATTERNS VARIOUS OF DRAWING ON WALL SHOWING A MAN WITH A MUSIC BOX VARIOUS OF CANVAS SHOWING LINES AND PATTERNS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ABSTRACT ARTIST, YUSUFF ABOGUNDE, SAYING: "It is deeper than just drawing lines and patterns. It actually has symbols in which I am building their meanings because whenever I'm creating my pieces I see and discover new symbols that doesn't exist before, so I give them meaning. At the moment I have the symbol of man, woman, death, power, human being and so on." WALL MURAL WITH ABOGUNDE STANDING IN THE BACKGROUND VARIOUS OF MURAL WITH PAINTED INSCRIPTIONS READING (English): 'POP HUB LAGOS' VARIOUS OF GLOWING WALL MURALS MORE OF GLOWING WALL MURAL VARIOUS OF ARTIST, KEN NWADIOBU LOOKING AROUND THE WALL DRAWINGS MURAL (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARTIST, KEN NWADIOGBU, SAYING: "People that come here see it as like a holy place, like something that has value, somewhere that has value, you understand that what he does, he completely turns a place into a surreal environment that you can just move in. I see people want to come in and they take off their slippers, because they feel ahhh... it's classic." (SOUNDBITE) (English) ABSTRACT ARTIST, YUSUFF ABOGUNDE, SAYING: "When people see it sometimes they say its ojuju (black magic) art, some say it's fetish but the idea is if we were not colonized by the whites, this is what we would be, you understand, so the lines, the patterns, the mask itself it is all connected to what we are." VARIOUS OF ABOGUNDE WEARING A MASK AND DRAWING ON SOMEONE'S FACE
- Embargoed: 8th November 2019 13:52
- Keywords: Art Mural Visual Art Mask Ainaism Yusuff Abogunde
- Location: LAGOS, NIGERIA
- City: LAGOS, NIGERIA
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: Art,Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA001B2LINH3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Masked artist Yusuff Abogunde is working on his latest project painting the walls of a studio he shares with other artists in Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos.
Abogunde starts out by creating a central subject, then slowly fills in the mural with intricate lines and patterns, that he says tells a multitude of stories.
He calls his art form Ainaism -- a technique that features the movement of lines and spiral patterns using acrylic and charcoal.
Abogunde wears a mask when he's working, which he says gives him the inspiration he needs for his art.
Abogunde says the Ainaism technique came to him in a vision.
"I was trying to receive a call and waiting for the person to tell me what to write down, at a certain time, my hands started drawing lines in different motions on a small paper - then I didn't call it Ainaism. I really didn't even know my name was Aina until my mom told so I decided to keep drawing this same particular pattern, line motions you know because it is something I have not really seen before then," he told Reuters.
Aina is a Yoruba name for a child born with its umbilical cord around its neck, which inspired Abogunde to paint lines mimicking an umbilical cord.
The 22-year-old began experimenting with the Ainaism art technique in 2016 while studying in applied arts.
He says his art is essentially abou symbolism and the spiral nature of life.
"It is deeper than just drawing lines and patterns. It actually has symbols in which I am building their meanings because whenever I'm creating my pieces I see and discover new symbols that doesn't exist before, so I give them meaning. At the moment I have the symbol of man, woman, death, power, human being and so on", Abogunde said.
Abodunde has become a sought-after artist, who is commissioned by private clients and art galleries across Lagos to paint their walls.
A painting can take between 4 to 12 hours, depending on the intricacy of the patterns and size of the wall. One of his painted walls can cost over 500,000 Naira (1,385 USD).
"People that come here see it as like a holy place like something that has value, somewhere that has value you understand. That is what he does, he completely turns a place into a surreal environment that you can just move in. I see people want to come in and they take off their slippers, because they feel ahhh... it's classic" said fellow visual artist Ken Nwadiogb.
"When people see it sometimes they say its ojuju (black magic) art, some say its fetish but the idea is if we were not colonized by the whites, this is what we would be, you understand, so the lines, the patterns, the mask itself it is all connected to what we are," Abogunde added.
To market his work, Abogunde also offers face painting services, where he recreates the Aina technique on people's faces.
(Seun Sanni, Nneka Chile) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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