Art X Lagos 2021

For the sixth edition of ART X LAGOS, SMO presents three young artists, Manyaku Mashilo (b 1991), Kelechi Nwaneri (b. 1994), and Johnson Eziefula (b. 1998) who sift through layers of social, ancestral, and cultural inheritance and influences in an attempt to define, examine, and celebrate self. Through figurative paintings in ink, charcoal, oil pastel, and acrylic, each artist invites the viewer to join in their questioning. Manyaku Mashilo’s (South Africa) enmeshed figures serve as a multiplication of mappings piecing together dimensions of time, place and space, offering the land and the body as the source of a complex question of spiritual identity. Kelechi Nwaneri’s (Nigeria) surrealistic works with mythological and folklore connotations, stir up conversations on issues around social values, history, mental health, and the subconscious interaction between man and his environment. Johnson Eziefula’s (Nigeria) hyper-realist portraits emphasize the intersection of a myriad of influences brought about by colonization, globalization, and technological socialization on native communities and cultures. These artists do not claim to have arrived at an answer, but with each brush stroke expose questions buried beneath the surface.