Ade Adesina | new leaves | October 2020

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ADE ADESINA New Leaves


cover A l’aube (sunrise,) 2020 linocut with Florence Poirier Nkpa | 101cm x 147cm opposite Bubble, 2020 linocut | 31cm x 31cm


ADE ADESINA New Leaves

13 November - 5 December 2020


New Leaf, 2020 linocut 33cm x 33cm


Foreword The greatest joy of running an art gallery is the search for work that pushes forward and redefines its field, and which has contemporary significance as well as timelessness. Despite the infinite number of ways to express stories of our existence, it is still rare to find the agenda-resetter, but I think Ade Adesina does this. His work is urgent, a global song for the early twenty-first century. He has not drifted into his art but does it with international breath and conviction. Ade Adesina is a printmaker, born in Nigeria and now living in Aberdeen. His work is complex with many stages. First, the muse. For Adesina, this is often the fragility of the Earth and the layers of (ab)uses put upon it by mankind. Flooding and desertification are often central; then there are re-purposed trees, whales swimming in the air (or is it us living underwater,) windfarms, oil-rigs, people and the detritus of human existence all appear. Adesina’s concerns, like the Jedi force, are all-connecting, everywhere and on the side of good. Secondly there is the challenge. Just creating an object isn’t enough for Ade Adesina. Part of his reward comes from exploring new places and subjects. He relentlessly pushes boundaries and has collaborated with many notable artists -Ian Burke, June Carey, Lenox Dunbar, David Mach, Tomasz Wrombel and Barry McGlashan. He has also jumped at every


opportunity to travel and absorb. Adesina is either in the studio or travelling. Thirdly, there is the zone. Some of Adesina’s latest creations are vast linocuts, 6 foot by 4 foot. These need to be worked on one square millimeter at a time. It is a grueling process. Sometimes he works throughout the night and for many months on a single piece. As he works Adesina composes the work. This is a period of heightened awakeness, when disperse elements are pulled together to produce a new artistically-divined landscape.Think of a writer squirrelled away, composing a story. It is a place of concentration and free flow of ideas where time can be lost and eventually, if you are lucky, you emerge with a masterpiece. This is the zone. Finally, there is magic. Etchings, linocuts and other artists’ prints are carved in the negative. What is a dark trough in the lino-block will be clear paper in the final print. Dark ink-soaked points are the uncarved crests left behind; and there are the subtleties of mid-tones and shading and the process of inking up. Huge skill and patience are needed for any original print, let along Adesina’s vast linocuts, and the end results is not always predictable.The revealing of a print from the press is like a rising sun. It heralds the rebirth, magic and optimism of a new leaf. It is the culmination of everything – the muse, knowledge, time spent in the zone – and now, once block and paper are separated, the new print is alive, a new world made. Tony Davidson, October 2020


Whitby Translated, 2017 linocut with Ian Burke 95cm x 120cm


Beyond the Line, 2018 woodcuts 92cm x 61cm (x3)


Another Life, 2019 linocut 101cm x 42cm


The Great Escape, 2019 linocut with David Mach 82cm x 82cm


Twenty-twenty, 2020 linocut with Baptiste 80cm diameter


Conditional Love, 2019 linocut 158cm x 94cm


Trickle, 2018 linocut with David Mach 184cm x 89cm


The View after the Questions, 2018 linocut | 109cm x 168cm



All Seasons, 2019 linocut with Lennox Dunbar 58cm x 78cm


A l’aube (sunrise) linocut with Florence Poirier Nkpa 101cm x 147cm


Signs of Life, 2017 linocut with David Mach 110cm x 180cm



Mechanic, 2019 etching and aquatint 21cm x 23cm

Dusk, 2019 linocut 30cm x 30cm


Soul, 2019 etching and aquatint 23cm x 21cm

Daybreak, 2019 etching and aquatint 30cm x 30cm


Saint Peter’s Fish, 2019 linocut with Ian Burke 62cm x 82cm



All that Heaven Entails, 2019 linocut with June Carey 109cm x 90cm


Entrance to the Gates of Paradise, 2018 linocut with June Carey 114cm x 77cm


Aurora, 2018 linocut 93cm x 43cm

01463 783 230 art@kilmorackgallery.co.uk by beauly, inverness-shire iv4 7al




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