Opeyemi Olukotun was born in Ipetu Ijesha, Osun State in 1989.
Browsing absentmindedly on Instagram, my gaze was immediately drawn to a portrait painted by an unknown artist, but one that seemed so obviously real and present despite the narrowness of the smartphone screen that I remembered it. Later I would discover that its author was Opeyemi Matthew Olukotun, a young and talented Nigerian painter.
I have seen other portraits painted by him and in particular those that are the subject of this exhibition. While they never resemble one another, they are indisputably part of the same whole that is visually identifiable thanks to certain characteristics whose sum is what is called style.
Generally painted in acrylic on large canvases (often over 1m x 1m) and rather square, these works highlight the face and only the face that occupies much of the surface, except when it overflows the edges of the canvas.
These portraits are part of Olukotun’s "paradoxical" works that, while giving the impression of perfect realism, borrow artifice and false pretence from techniques which make it possible to achieve a result that is more evocative than real.
If we go beyond the first visual perception, we quickly realize that the painter plays very skillfully with shades and transparencies, solids and voids, reminders of color, blurred lines— or on the contrary, with a very clear line; in short, a quite remarkable set of processes that allow Olukotun to obtain the results he desires.
Beyond the simple representation of people who we do not know if they are real or anonymous, it is above all a portrait of the essence of these people that the artist intends to paint. The title of the works, which often constitute a series, clearly confirms this: "State of mind", "Thinking" or “Feeling". Opeyemi Olukotun says it himself: “My works celebrate humans, their amazing facial expressions, their body gestures, their enthusiasm for their work, their behavioral activities, and their passions.”
With these portraits that succeed several previous series ("Okada" series; "Night" series; "Market" series and faces), the painter demonstrates his great technical mastery. And we mustn’t be surprised when he passionately and truly declares himself a master of drawing. Only an experienced draftsman can have such a formal mastery of forms and expressions.
The artist says that he is fascinated by the human anatomy and is passionate about drawing the different aspects of it: movements, facial expressions, proportions, etc. His color palette is harmonious and fairly unified, although he provokes "breaks" with spots and lines that create a visual contrast that, as he explains, are intended to provoke dialogue and connectivity around them.
All his characters wear head coverings (military beret, scarf, toquilla straw hat) without any particular explanation.
Opeyemi Olukotun was born in Ipetu Ijesha, Osun State in 1989.
Browsing absentmindedly on Instagram, my gaze was immediately drawn to a portrait painted by an unknown artist, but one that seemed so obviously real and present despite the narrowness of the smartphone screen that I remembered it. Later I would discover that its author was Opeyemi Matthew Olukotun, a young and talented Nigerian painter.
I have seen other portraits painted by him and in particular those that are the subject of this exhibition. While they never resemble one another, they are indisputably part of the same whole that is visually identifiable thanks to certain characteristics whose sum is what is called style.
Generally painted in acrylic on large canvases (often over 1m x 1m) and rather square, these works highlight the face and only the face that occupies much of the surface, except when it overflows the edges of the canvas.
These portraits are part of Olukotun’s "paradoxical" works that, while giving the impression of perfect realism, borrow artifice and false pretence from techniques which make it possible to achieve a result that is more evocative than real.
If we go beyond the first visual perception, we quickly realize that the painter plays very skillfully with shades and transparencies, solids and voids, reminders of color, blurred lines— or on the contrary, with a very clear line; in short, a quite remarkable set of processes that allow Olukotun to obtain the results he desires.
Beyond the simple representation of people who we do not know if they are real or anonymous, it is above all a portrait of the essence of these people that the artist intends to paint. The title of the works, which often constitute a series, clearly confirms this: "State of mind", "Thinking" or “Feeling". Opeyemi Olukotun says it himself: “My works celebrate humans, their amazing facial expressions, their body gestures, their enthusiasm for their work, their behavioral activities, and their passions.”
With these portraits that succeed several previous series ("Okada" series; "Night" series; "Market" series and faces), the painter demonstrates his great technical mastery. And we mustn’t be surprised when he passionately and truly declares himself a master of drawing. Only an experienced draftsman can have such a formal mastery of forms and expressions.
The artist says that he is fascinated by the human anatomy and is passionate about drawing the different aspects of it: movements, facial expressions, proportions, etc. His color palette is harmonious and fairly unified, although he provokes "breaks" with spots and lines that create a visual contrast that, as he explains, are intended to provoke dialogue and connectivity around them.
All his characters wear head coverings (military beret, scarf, toquilla straw hat) without any particular explanation.
