I met Benin based artist Usman Semiu Alvin at Eric Kaysar in the Mike Adenuga Centre this past month and was asked at last minute if we could be joined by one of his colleagues that worked in Lagos. This is how I met artist "Eleez" Ekpeterson Elizabeth.
I love being in Lagos, Nigeria and being able to engage artists face-to-face. The culture is different in Africa - people are more willing to meet and take a chance or a leap of faith. I resonate with that. My personality dictates that I like to socialize and hear stories about the people behind how works and how their experiences have influenced their works.
Usman Semiu Alvin is an artist living in Edo State who graduated from Auchi Polytechnic. A fellow alum of Raymond Akenbor Eghosa, although the two artists were not there at the same time.
Alvin became known for his love of figure representation and this has been his basic form of reference in his early years. He was a resident of Lagos based Art Gallery, Alexis Galleries, in 2020. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Alvin has been experimenting with a new outlook that he employs "Black Africa" figuration and its historic symbolic themes as his primary source of reference to convey his views. I was able to see a selection of the works in person. I was so impressed with the scale of works and I especially liked "Jewelry Girl" which was a portrait measuring 168 x 92 cm.
What do you all think of Usman's works?
More to come from Usman Semiu Alvin and "Eleez" Ekpetorson Elizabeth soon 🙂