Art is life.
Life is art. Everywhere we go, everywhere we turn, everything we do, –
consciously or unconsciously, – our experiences and values exude art in a
subtle or flamboyant means. Art, through the ages, has been a channel through
which the history of a particular group of people or a society can be
documented and preserved for the perusal of future generations to come. With
every swish of the brush stroke from the artist we feel a connection with the
depicted theme, an attachment to our society and nature as seen through the
eyes of the artist. Little wonder the artist can chiefly assume the position of
the speaker in the following quote:
“Human is part of nature and we are like the
keeper of life.”- Author Unknown.
Chuka Nnabuife
takes on himself the role of custodian of life, keeper of the history of a
generation at the height of its most interesting, yet delicate, phase. This
generation lives at a time in which its world becomes practically dwarfed by and
at the mercy of the scientific and technological advances emerging each passing
day, and at the same time staggering under the weight of the social ills and
misdemeanours that are becoming the order of the day. Memoirs of a generation II, a laudable product of selfless and
painstaking documentation of societal happenings through 1995 to 2012, catalog
graphically scenes and happenings from everyday life which the viewers can
easily relate with.
The question we
normally ask ourselves is reiterated in Are
we really safe here?
Are we really
safe here? 3.11ft x 2ft, Acrylic on Canvas, 2012.
It depicts three
faces, a woman, a man and likely their son. The work reveals a satirical intent
which Chuka’s works are habitually imbued with. While pondering over the
eternal questions housed in our hearts, the figures are already resigned to
fate. Finger-biting, cheeks supported by palms and stolid faces have become
normal emotive expressions to the societal ills endangering the society as a
whole. As related in Chuka’s commentary in the pages of the June 30, 2012
Nigerian Compass, this generation is gradually becoming content with doing
nothing to remedy the state of affairs in the country. Instead they look on and
blame those in authority as opposed to doing something to salvage a sinking
ship.
Proper Graduation, 3.5 x 4.9ft, Oil on Canvas,
2010. Gender Take-over, 1.9 x 2.6ft, Mixed media, 2010.
With the advent
of technological advances, civilisation, western influences and the hype of the
media and the so-called stars, values have begun to erode to an embarrassing
low. In Proper Graduation, Chuka
evaluates the relationship between the values instilled in a regular western education
and the traditional educational which is gradually washed away by the strong
currents of civilisation. It is obvious, as similarly reinforced by the work
that both go hand in hand. A little less of either of the two class of education
would result in an unbalance in the socio-cultural development of an
individual. More especially is this when it comes to women in general. Women are
generally considered to belong to the kitchen. To fulfil their duty as wife,
mother, companion and housekeeper they are mandated to undergo a thorough
training in the hands of their mothers as they grow up. But a well rounded up
training is achieved as they combine what they have learnt with a fair share of
the western education. This is highlighted in Chuka’s Proper Graduation. For a while, a majority of people were against
girl-child education and the empowerment of a woman which necessitated the rise
of agitators for the empowerment of women and gender equality. As a result of
these agitations, women are beginning to fill up roles which are nominally
restricted to the men-folks. While it cannot be said that women have been 100% empowered
to the degree the men are, they are now holding posts, – politically,
economically, religiously and in all spheres of life, – which traditionally
were restricted from them. Gender
Take-over tells this story. Turning their backs to the traditional representation
of womanhood, – a possible illustration of the traditional views of what and
what defines the responsibilities of a woman, – women stylistically brought out
with light tones emerge, so to say from the background, advancing towards the
viewer in a show of demonstration led by
a woman clad chiefly in royal costume. It would be interesting to note
that the woman in the fore-front tramples a man at her foot, significant of
their growing dominance.
Chika’s thirty
one works that make up the Memoirs of a
Generation II exhibition is a satirical analysis and documentation of a
generation’s resilience, hope, beauty, industriousness, fickleness, growth,
values, rhythm, love and values. These satirical observations by Chuka are bolstered
by his use of heavily overlaid colours. His colours are thick and unsparingly
reflect a decisiveness and radicalism in stylistic rendition. Despite the
dullness of the colours the figures are significantly brought out with artfully
highlighted tones. This intones a message of a hope, a silver lining at the end
of the tunnel, – a message that, as a generation, we stand out from our
individual and communal struggles and circumstances however grim as they may
seem. None of the work on display reflects an aesthetic obsession of beauty as
depicted by a thorough extraordinarily beautiful finish. Instead Chuka expends
his finesse in bringing out his theme in the barest aesthetic feeling while not
losing the connection with the viewer.
