"TRACES OF BEING"

“Traces of Being” the current solo exhibition, takes us into a period in art history where subject and style converge to form the tool that artist’s use to draw attention and reposition art as an agent for social change.

Two epochs come to mind when viewing the body of work that constitutes “Traces of Being”; these are Fauvism and Synthetic Cubism. These two movements define what is generally termed modern art. The drip painting of Jackson Pollock and pointillism of George Seurat are some techniques that influenced the body of work “Traces of Being.”

Rom is a product of Yaba College of Technology, which is well known for realism/expressionism; but he opts for Fauve and Cubist expression in his last three solo shows, while holding dear the subject matter that characterizes the tenets of realism. Wikipedia defines realism as a visual art style that depicts the actuality of what the eyes can see.

Realists render everyday characters, situations, dilemmas, and objects, all in verisimilitude. They tend to discard theatrical drama, lofty subjects and classical forms in favor of commonplace themes.
... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realism_(visual_arts)

Rom’s body of work for “Traces of Being” prisimatically comes at a time that the state of Nigeria is at a political crossroad when the signs are blurred by the dust of social and religious upheavals stretching across every part of state. The global economic meltdown had been the way of life for Rom and many generations since the late eighties when the World Bank initiated the SAP program. The savings from programs such as the structural adjustment program [SAP] wind up in the pocket of a few individuals thus wiping out the middle class and widening the gap between rich and poor. Protests and industrial strikes are now the only tool for the collective bargainers in public institutions, often resulting in lengthy closure of schools. Jihads, armed struggles and kidnappings are the new vocations for fanatics and the unemployed.

Rom’s “Traces of Being” provides a subtle reminder of the breakdown of law and order and people’s reaction to the hash economic realties in Nigeria. A country that is rich in natural resources and cultural practices, sees values trashed while people with fraud in their resume get appointed to exalted public and church offices. This is how it differs from developed countries such as Europe and America, where the Bernard Madof’s of the Wall Streets are languishing in their jails cell or dead by suicide.

Some of Rom’s choices of medium in “Traces of Being” may raise archival concerns, but are very effective in expressing the subject maters of interest to him. Rom updated my knowledge of his work with 7 images that are pivotal to the show “Traces of Being”. He draws inspiration from events in life as reported in the print and electronic media globally. These works touch on almost every aspect of contemporary life in most urban cities of the world, including politics, culture, environment, and socio-economics. “Covenant” is a mixed media diptych made with bottle caps [tops], which exposes one of the core problems of today Nigerian society where there are several covenants that people subscribe to.

In recent times the pages of the newspaper have been filled with stories of government officials taking an oat of allegiance. Members of students’ cult also swore to a covenant to be their brother’s keeper in crime.

Interestingly, this piece also speaks of the social covenant of drinking in the pub or under the tree [abegi], where people converge to talk about their woes, hoping to drink them away. "The covenant" is a composition of 3 figures joined at the head, sharing 2 eyes, 1 nose and 3 mouths. The expressions are cynical,boisterous, and angry, from left to right.

Rom’s ‘Traces of Being’ also explores religious theme with “Eternity” and “Queen of the Rose Garden”. In these two paintings Rom takes his viewer to life before life and life after death, while he traces the origin of human beings to the Garden of Eden, focusing on Eve. The surfaces of both paintings are richly adorned with flora motifs that function as texture as well as metaphor.

Comically, the mixed media piece on corrugated roofing sheets entitled “Tittle-Tattle” highlights the lower class of society that lives in shanties and spends their leisure time in gossiping on the ruling class. That class, after party hours is represented by a litter of plastic plates and cutlery in the mixed media piece “Ruling Class”. The gossip was shared by one of the steward’s account in the mixed media “Eye Witness” in the absence of pod cast “I Witness”.

The painting titled “Reality Check” represents a beautiful girl who is saddled by today’s economic uncertainty. In bring her burden to the fore, Rom uses the palette knife to apply heavy impasto layers of oil paints, relying on light to reveal the subject very much as in the works of the pointillist Georges Seurat for instance, “An Afternoon at La Grande Jatte”. Rom as a social commentator evokes in the viewer the existentialism that pervades the lives of the ordinary city dwellers of Nigeria especially, in Lagos where he lives and works.

Happy Viewing.

Olu Amoda .
Statesboro Georgia, USA.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009 .