Me & Him

When we decide to trace the history of a dog, we cannot but tell the tale of the cooking pot that made the meat tasty, likewise no chef can cook the fireweed vegetables enough to rid it of its scent. These above statements set the tune for the exhibition you are viewing now. It is the reason as you would find out soon that this exhibition is being held in the first place and subsequently carrying the messages with which it has been laden. The number two is significant in a number of senses, I mean "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" the answer to this biblical rhetorical question needs no guessing to answer.

Historically, the artists on display have a long history together. They are graduates of the philosophically aligned Ife Art School, having been properly initiated into the depth of ideology springing forth wisdom from "The Source" as Ife is popularly designated. This is the reason for the dynamism in the approach to the arts that you will find in their works, from materials to medium and execution. They have engaged arts beyond aesthetics while retaining the lure of aesthetics, they have engaged the subject of art as a tool to inspire social debates and address human issues. While some may call them social commentators, these artists are beyond commentary; they are in a manner of speaking society's conscience, drilling deep into the annals of human interactions like engineers to create works that address the hidden issues of man's day to day life, drawing from history and a keen observation of their immediate and lager environment. If art was a coin produced in Ile-Ife, Toro and Badru have by the reason of this exhibition qualified to be the two sides of that coin amongst the numerous prodigious artists the school has produced. While Badru is a textile graduate of the Ife Art School, Toro is a painting graduate and both of them are by the evidence before you, distinctions in their rights.

Two sides of a coin is the parable that exposes the ideals of this exhibition titled Me & Him. It is the interrogation of the decision of two artists and their diversity of expressions using arts as a vehicle. From the theme one may infer that there is a side "Me" and side "Him" of the exhibition coin and that side is not a constant because if you view from Badru's side Toro becomes side him and vice versa. While it may be the intention of the artists to leave the audience to fix the puzzle on who is Me and Him amongst them, it is more revealing for this writing that the exhibition title is a puzzle with two sides seeking answers, as earlier mentioned the number two is important in this exhibition -Two artists, Two Unique expressions and two streams of messages, but the coin remains the same.

Badru's Side of the Coin

If you are familiar with Badru and his sojourn as an artist, one thing you cannot deny is the obvious and continuous evolution of his style. In a way of description, Badru is an "Alara" and Ara ii tan nile alara which could be translated as "there's no end to the wonders in the mind of a creator" but in a more grammatically acceptable sense "wonders never end". Badru is a potpourri of restless experimentation always trying his hands on new things especially in the combination of materials and mediums to express his ideas.

However, one constant in his evolution has been the deployment of African inspired motifs as a unit of inspiration for his many expressions. The bond between Badru and the use of these African motifs is inseparable as he has evolved the use of these traditional motifs, finding meaning for them in contemporary themes, when you thought to have seen the most of Badru, his styles and bond with African motif (chiefly Adire), he brings up a new one and you wonder How come?

Toro's Side of the Coin

Toro is a draughtsman and this is perhaps his most valuable asset after his artistic mind. I dare to say, anything Toro cannot express in drawing cannot be expressed. He painstakingly interprets ideas using lines and shapes. He combines this with an understanding of the interplay of light on objects and you cannot but notice this seeming obsession in his works laying one brush stroke against another. These two attributes have continually dotted the face of his alluring oeuvre.

As a young graduate in his early days out of school, Toro in a frantic search to distinguish his realistic approach to painting found the exploration of combining acrylic and charcoal fascinating and he would spend the next decade expressing his themes using this new found medium. Known for striking portraits with facial expressions capable of sparking conversations within his viewers, his brush wears an unseen cassock that qualifies him to be a preacher, creating works that generate conversations that call society back to the place of introspection. In this exhibition, he has presented works that leave one with questions unending.