INSIGHT: Frozen

I came across a gripping image of black face peering intently behind the Euro symbol accompanied with the title “The Value of Nothing III.” This powerful juxtaposition of imagery and commentary hooked me onto the work of Ken Nwadiogbu. I prsent to you a brief glimpse of the artist. Ken is a Nigerian visual artist who uses visual art to comment and challenge Black Representation. While earning a degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering he taught himself art to make a change in his community.

KN: My art career began as a coincidence of sort. I saw a drawing by a colleague and dared myself to do a better drawing and I did but I didn’t stop there. I continued to draw and got better at it. The moment I realized that I wanted to pursue visual art was when I understood that I can do more than just wowing people with it.

I became very familiar with issues affecting my peers and those around me and wanted to make a change in my community. I decided that I am just one person with a little voice but with my art, it’s a multitude of voices, as I challenge and investigate socio-political structures and issues affecting Black people.

Speak more to your style of art. It feels like a literal peak below the surface or breaking through of the main subject due to its 3-D nature. Thy Brother is Not Thy Broher Indeed, 2017

My oeuvre encompasses various mediums including charcoal, collage, acrylic and most recently photography. I describe my style of art as ‘Contemporealism’ and it is largely centered on the fusion of hyper-realism and contemporary art. It is a welcome deviation from the traditional hyper-realism movement. My work has since evolved from hyper-realism, as I infuse elements from contemporary art into my work –hence, contemporealism.

www.fokus.org | 9 The peak below the surface or the breakthrough of the main subject often seen in many of the pieces is achieved with several hours on each detail using charcoal or pencil. My creative process involves me conceptualizing ideas for my work, penning down the idea and drawing. It sounds really simple, but it is quite complicated, especially in the detailing of each work. It often takes hours just to achieve a particular detail and I must admit, I am always happy with the result.

I do not just create art to blow people’s mind, but I create art to make a statement and to make a change in my own little way. Armed with charcoal and pencil, I am able to do this on canvas and paper. It is important to me to promote and intervene on socio-political issues relating to Black people in order to create a reform and change in the society. I believe I can do this through my work. How does your work speak on these issues? My work speaks on these issues through how I choose to depict my subjects. For instance, in my “Bad Mentality” series, I shed light on issues like brutality, while inviting people to ponder and question commonly accepted socio-political norms and mentality.

As like any other African family, my family –my parents, were reluctant to accept my art path. This was conversation we had while I was studying civil and environmental engineering in University of Lagos. We both decided to compromise and in order to appease them, I agreed to finish my degree, while actively pursuing my art career. Now my parents introduce me as their son the artist and they are very proud of what I have been able to achieve in such a short time.

To view more of Ken’s works at www.kennwadiogbu.com and also his IG page www.instagram.com/kennwadiogbu