• George Edozie, Ikpoku Chi 5, 2024
    George Edozie, Ikpoku Chi 5, 2024
  • George Edozie, Obianozor 6 (Birthday Photograph), 2023
    George Edozie, Obianozor 6 (Birthday Photograph), 2023
  • George Edozie, Portrait of Ghanaian Woman, 2015
    George Edozie, Portrait of Ghanaian Woman, 2015
  • George Edozie, Uzoiyi, 2023
    George Edozie, Uzoiyi, 2023
  • George Edozie, Afro Love Symphony 3, 2021
    George Edozie, Afro Love Symphony 3, 2021
  • George Edozie, Afro Love Symphony 4, 2021
    George Edozie, Afro Love Symphony 4, 2021
  • George Edozie, Afro Love Symphony 5, 2021
    George Edozie, Afro Love Symphony 5, 2021
  • George Edozie, Agu, 2024
    George Edozie, Agu, 2024
  • George Edozie, Amanda, 2024
    George Edozie, Amanda, 2024
  • George Edozie, Chukwukadibia 1, 2022
    George Edozie, Chukwukadibia 1, 2022
  • George Edozie, Chukwukadibia 2, 2022
    George Edozie, Chukwukadibia 2, 2022
  • George Edozie, Dinner Party 1, 2021
    George Edozie, Dinner Party 1, 2021
  • George Edozie, Dinner Party 2, 2022
    George Edozie, Dinner Party 2, 2022
  • George Edozie, Eva 3, 2024
    George Edozie, Eva 3, 2024
  • George Edozie, Faces of Atunmma, 2022
    George Edozie, Faces of Atunmma, 2022
  • George Edozie, Head 7, 2024
    George Edozie, Head 7, 2024
  • George Edozie, Head of a Negro Boy 7, 2022
    George Edozie, Head of a Negro Boy 7, 2022
  • George Edozie, Head of A Boy 12, 2022
    George Edozie, Head of A Boy 12, 2022
  • George Edozie, Head of A Girl 10, 2022
    George Edozie, Head of A Girl 10, 2022
  • George Edozie, Head of A Girl 9, 2022
    George Edozie, Head of A Girl 9, 2022
  • George Edozie, Negro Couple 6, 2024
    George Edozie, Negro Couple 6, 2024
  • George Edozie, Ofuchi Afulenu, Enuma, and Obianozor, 2024
    George Edozie, Ofuchi Afulenu, Enuma, and Obianozor, 2024
  • George Edozie, Praying Gilr 4, 2020
    George Edozie, Praying Gilr 4, 2020
  • George Edozie, Praying Girl 3, 2020
    George Edozie, Praying Girl 3, 2020
  • George Edozie, Praying Girl 5, 2020
    George Edozie, Praying Girl 5, 2020
  • George Edozie, Ronke, 2024
    George Edozie, Ronke, 2024
  • George Edozie, Sketch for Dinner Party 2, 2022
    George Edozie, Sketch for Dinner Party 2, 2022
  • George Edozie, Sketch for Dinner Party 3, 2022
    George Edozie, Sketch for Dinner Party 3, 2022
  • George Edozie, Visa Lottery Photograph 26, 2023
    George Edozie, Visa Lottery Photograph 26, 2023
  • GATHERINGS

    GEORGE EDOZIE
  • SMO is delighted to present ‘GATHERINGS’, a solo exhibition of paintings, drawings and sculpture by George Edozie, a celebrated artist, curator, conservator, and community activist. The works in this exhibition touch on our inter-dependency, and how our communal ties, cultural identity, good governance, and familial love are critical for Africa’s sustainable growth and progress.
     
    Edozie is a leader in the art space and his life ethos revolves around socio-political themes which are inspired by his family and community, and the challenges of living and working in a vibrant, yet difficult, creative landscape. As the current president of the Guild of Professional Fine Artists, he spends much of his time gathering his peers, and finding solutions to improve and strengthen opportunities for artists in Nigeria and the sub-continent, by advocating for equity and government support. Through his studio work, and his mentorship of young artists, curating exhibitions and organizing workshops Edozie has contributed significantly to the growth of Nigeria’s creative industry for the past 28 years.
     
    Edozie’s work reminds us that there is strength in unity, and that together, we can go farther and achieve more.
  • Multidisciplinary artist George Edozie was born in 1972 in Enugu state, Nigeria. His artistic talents emerged during his early childhood in Nsukka where he would create paintings, sketches and other crafts. He enrolled at the University of Benin where he graduated with a Bachelors Honors degree in Fine and Applied Arts in 1996. After his graduation, Edozie ventured into full time art.
     
    Edozie’s impressionist paintings feature angular characters and a rich array of textures, which are integral to his works. His art delves into themes that address social-cultural, political, and economic biases in society, evoking strong emotions such as love, belonging, strife, and joy.
    Multidisciplinary artist George Edozie was born in 1972 in Enugu state, Nigeria. His artistic talents emerged during his early childhood...
  • GATHERINGS is a creative conversation which celebrates three decades of professional practice, and commemorates the artist's 50th birthday, while exploring...
    GATHERINGS is a creative conversation which celebrates three decades of professional practice, and commemorates the artist's 50th birthday, while exploring common themes that influence his work.
     
    In this new body of work, Edozie’s paintings and sketches on paper, are populated with portraits of stylized individuals whose afro hairdos remind us of symbols of African cultural identity and liberation. One can see the influence of his creative mentor, Olisa Nwadiogbu, in his cubist figurative style. The heads of his figures are often bent to either the left or right side, observing the world with a quizzical, ironic gaze of knowing, laced with slight surprise.
     
    Edozie is passionate about his children and family; his ministry as a marriage counselor with his wife, provides rich emotional material for many of his depictions of human interactions.

    His portraits are painted with a bold color palette and thick brushstrokes, layering the interior of thick set, curvy figures outlined in black. His two largest works, Dinner Party 1 & 2, over two and half meters wide, reveal a rich inter-play of iconic personalities typically present at a gathering of friends.

    In the foreground he places a gift-wrapped present in comic-book style, alongside a small table with a bottle and wine glasses. Most of the faces are painted in profile with only one eye visible, or with eyes closed, each figure engrossed in inner thoughts. We can almost hear music surrounding the men with bubble-style afros and the women with square, shoulder length hairstyles, engulfed in party vibrations. Some heads are skewed sideways, as they respond to lively dinner conversation.
  • George Edozie, Dinner Party 2, 2022

    George Edozie

    Dinner Party 2, 2022
    Mixed Media on Textured Canvas
    177 x 240 cm
  • This body of works depicts the life of the artist, and the search for harmony between our professional studio practice...
    This body of works depicts the life of the artist, and the search for harmony between our professional studio practice and family values and responsibilities. GATHERINGS focuses on my life’s journey and explores issues around marriage, parenting, and professional leadership challenges; the myriad of happenings between my creative spaces and the home front. Harmony between creativity and family is a major challenge for artists. Our creative energy is extremely jealousy and cannot accommodate the artist’s love life. I am documenting the challenges of an artist being a family man, and provoking questions, as well as providing possible solutions to these primordial tensions which are common across humanity. I am hopeful we will achieve a sane coexistence between progeny and creative linage.