POLARTICS, Lagos, Nigeria
09 May 2020 - 07 Jun 2020
POLARTICS presents I Hope This Finds You Well. A joint exhibition of ruminative works by adeoluwa oluwajoba and Femi Johnson. They offer a reflection of their minds as they grasp the concept of stillness and isolation in a changing world. Space plays a central role, acting as both stimulus and subject matter.
adeoluwa oluwajoba focuses primarily on male bodies and their relation to “the built and imagined space”. He presents ‘politics of shared living’ and ‘portraits from solitude’ in which he observes the dynamic forms and shapes the bodies assume in their occupation of space, and the attendant possibilities for influence, symbiosis and subversion between both forms. He considers the relationship between bodies and their dynamic negotiations of roles and positions with the lived environment. adeoluwa is interested in utilising the male body as a site of enquiry into socio-political, cultural and heteronormative (mis)conceptions whilst exploring the notion of shared living and the negotiated space. The body of work is informed by his ongoing personal experiences of sharing a flat with friends and being isolated with them during the government imposed lockdown in Lagos, Nigeria.
Femi Johnson engages with the external as he captures vast expanses of Lagos, the sprawling economic capital of Nigeria, as it comes to an unfamiliar halt. He presents the rare emptiness that pervades the city, impacting on the viewer a sense of timelessness and spectrality. Photographing the city on long walks, he captures the symbolism of this unprecedented moment and uses Lagos as a muse for contemplation. He shoots both the familiar and the unfamiliar, sometimes offering a unique window from forgotten spaces. These spaces become the observer as they look upon a changing city.
Visit the exhibition here: polartics.com