Tola Wewe (NIGERIAN B.1959)

Lot description

TOLA WEWE (NIGERIAN B.1959) (i) MAN & WOMAN; (ii) WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE - A PAIR (i) signed and dated tola wewe / 2008 lower right both acrylic on canvas each 16 x 16cm; 6 1/4 x 6 1/4in each 45 x 45cm; 17 3/4 x 17 3/4in (framed) (2) Property from a Private Collection, London Born in Okitipupa, Ondo State, Nigeria, Wewe graduated in Fine Art from the University of Ife in 1983 and obtained a MA in African Visual Arts from University of Ibadan, Oyo State in 1986. Wewe's style draws from the Ona symbols of the Yoruba and his themes project traditional folklore and the myths of his native Yoruba culture. He is a founding member of the Ona movement, (established in February 1989), comprising a group of artists committed to pursuing artistic excellence through the adaptation and interpretation of traditional materials and methods, using forms and styles of contemporary Yoruba art and design. During his early career, Wewe's work was characterised by three principal influences: first, his formal academic training at Ife, second, his master's research into the Ijaw water spirit mask, and finally the Yoruba society. Wewe describes himself more as a witness than an author, 'communicating with the spirits of the ancestors, and drawing out the invisible spirits - the anjonnu, emere and the ebora - who make the art works…I am the vehicle, and they are the drivers. We go on these strange journeys to the most remote ends of imaginative experience'.