Oil on board
OMOLUWABI
THE SALVATION NARRATIVE
OF RUFUS OGUNDELE
PART II
A Return to the creative origins of
Self
It has often been said that the imbalances of the real world are mirrored and even exacerbated in the world of fine art and other micro universes within our realm of existence as they are both reflections and refractions of those larger inequities.
Since art and creativity have been so deeply ingrained in our human psyche, they have informed and influenced our evolution as a specie since the dawn of time.
If these injustices and anomalies can be corrected in higher creative spaces, their realignment will no doubt have a ripple effect on wider plains of existence, leveling out the playing field and creating a more equitable world for all.
Within this framework of thought, it is thus the prerogative of the artist to uphold truth and usher in new epiphanies of righteousness in moving humanity ever closer to a state of perfection in all areas of contemporary life.
As Africa emerges from a protracted period of darkness to embrace a hyper- renaissance synonymous with the glories of the Aquarian age, the artist is set to take center stage in this new epoch.
As the curtain draws on the 2000 year old Piscean age, the time has come for new manifestations of divine beauty reflecting the signs of the times and the rise in consciousness of the human family.
It comes as no surprise that through a series of cosmic coincidences, the works of the late icon of the Oshogbo Art Movement, Rufus Ogundele and others from that glorious age of spiritual art from Africa, have been brought to the forefront of the global art scene. Lost in translation for many decades, the exploitation of their individual and collective legacies has been on going since their emergence in the early 1960s. Aged only 50 at the time of his transition in 1996, Rufus Ogundele’s works and the powerful message of salvation they carry, resonate more deeply today than when first created over sixty years ago. Weaving the ancient folklore and mythology of his native Yoruba people in to his gospel of universal salvation, his message of everlasting life attainable through a reconnection to self, still echoes colorfully today from beyond the grave. His story narrates the tale of the quintessential outsider celebrating his own sacrificial mission of total devotion to his art as a means of attainting the ultimate goal of life eternal.
Kickstarted in the same flower power era of the 1960’s when the hippy movement was gathering momentum in the West, these new energies were the first born of the new age, challenging conventional wisdom and rebelling against war, human greed and capitalism. By visualizing a more equitable community and singing songs of love and peace, these twin flames of consciousness hoped to paint a better world on one hand and harmonize humanity’s soul on the other.
Though described in numerous artistic circles and articles as the Picasso of Africa due to his predominantly cubist expressions, Rufus in life rejected such comparisons and pigeon holing as he saw the spirit of art as running wild and unfettered throughout the human family. With time, he came to understand that Picasso’s cubism was greatly influenced by African forms and was often heard saying in jest that “Pablo Picasso ought to be known as the Rufus Ogundele of Europe”.
Instead, he saw himself as Omoluwabi, the local hero of kingly lineage, destined to change the world through his example, his character (Iwa) and his art.
Discovered just after Nigeria’s political independence from Britain in the early 1960s Rufus Ogundele’s art emanates from deep within the DNA of his ancestral heritage. His father a carpenter and traditional Yoruba carver, came from a long line of craftsmen instructed in the old ways and methods of Yoruba wood workings. Theirs was a guild dedicated to manifesting practical ways of improving life in the community and shrines of local deities like Oshun and Ogun. His name Ogundele literally means “the god of iron/creativity is in the house”.
Ogun de ele
Naturally born in to this creative school of thought, when given the opportunity to express his brand of ancestral wisdom, he chose to go deeper in to himself in search of the DNA of modern life. By applying the folklore and mythological systems of his native people through this new found medium of oil painting, Rufus Ogundele presented his own artistic roadmap for individual salvation to the world. His works take pride of place in the homes and collections of major stars and celebrities as documenting in the April 1997 edition of Architectural Digest. At home in Nigeria, Afro beat King; Femi Anikulapo Kuti and the highly respected Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, Agbogidi (The voice of Thunder, Obi “King” of Onitsha) are just a couple of well known collectors of Ogundele’s works. They have also been featured in leading galleries and exhibitions in Nigeria, Germany, the UK, France, USA, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Ghana and Japan. As far back as 1966, his works were shown at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London and at a Smithsonian Institution’s traveling exhibition of the world’s leading new names in art. In more recent times, his paintings have taken center stage in major cinematic features like Disney + “The Crossover starring Felicia Rashad and a host of other Hollywood celebrities.
Between October 7th 2022 and January 8th 2023, the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk Virginia featured the works of Rufus Ogundele and other Nigerian artists in their successful exhibition “Black Orpheus” ‘Jacob Lawrence and the Mbari Club’
This visual alignment of continental African art with the global art movement through story telling, has propelled Ogundele’s paintings in to millions of new minds through new media and the power of popular culture in the US and beyond.
In life, his mission was to use his art to penetrate the minds of his captive audience with his visual folk tales and colorful imagery as a means of correcting societal inequalities.
In death, his legacy lives on through his collection of rare paintings that speak of his messianic agenda to unite the diverse peoples of our world through the boundless, borderless creativity of the eternal human spirit.
EXHIBITIONS
2023 “Black Orpheus” Jacob Lawrence and the Mbari Club (featuring;Rufus Ogundele) Chrysler Museum Virginia
2021 “The New World According to Rufus Ogundele” Nimbus Africa Centre, Norfolk VA
2005 “Parallel Vision” Christina Cultural Art Centre, Delaware USA
2000 “ A Concrete Vision - Oshogbo Art in the 1969s” National Museum of African Art Washington USA
1990 “Songs of Power, Songs of Praise-Modern Visions from Haiti, Nigeria and Papua New Guinea”- San Jose State University gallery USA
1988 “Art from the African Diaspora: Becoming Visible”- Centre for Contemporary Art, Newark, USA
1985 “Oshogbo Art”- Commonwealth Institute Art Gallery- London, UK
1984 Solo Exhibition- Galerie Schwarzweise, Munich, Germany
1981 “Exhibition of works by Rufus Ogundele, Goethe Institute, Lagos Nigeria
1980-81 “ Twenty Years of Oshogbo Art” Goethe Institute, Lagos Nigeria
1979 “Modern Kunstaus Afrika” - Staatlichen Kunsthalie, Berlin Germany
1976 “Exhibition of Works by Rufus Ogundele” Goethe Institute, Lagos Nigeria
1975 “Modern Art from Africa” Group Exhibition- Jonas’s Gallery, Baltimore USA
1974 “Rufus Ogundele” Goethe Institute, Lagos Nigeria
1974- Tradition and Change in Yoruba Art, E.B Crocker Art Gallery , Sacramento USA
“Contemporary Nigerian Art” Corcoran Museum of Art Washington USA
1972- “Africa Creates’72’ Union Carbide Gallery New York USA
1970- “Exhibition of Works by Rufus Ogundele” Goethe Institute, Lagos Nigeria
1968- “Contemporary Nigerian Art Exhibition for Ori OlokunCultural Centre Ile-Ife
1969 “Contemporary African Art” - Camden Art Centre London UK
1969 “Contemporary Africa