‘Hairdo’ by Sam Ovraiti and ‘Beloved’ by Maxwell Boadi Two very different styles.One is so gentle it eases your soul. Ovraiti, a master of the subtle gesture, creates a painting that melds the women and their background, creating a rich, mellow interaction. Boadi’s Father figure is aggressive and bold dominating the picture with his desire.
Ben Osawe created this charcoal drawing in 1965 while still in England. This is one of a fairly large body of model drawings he did at the time. It’s created in a formal style of figurative portraiture. It’s easy to see his facility with the charcoal medium, his self-assurance and the elegance that would become
By 1987 Sam Ovraiti was an art lecturer at the Federal Polytechnic, Auchi. He’d graduated from Auchi in 1983, and in 1985 returned there as a lecturer. He was gregarious, friendly, mischievous — the sort of person who found something nice to say to everyone regardless of their station.
The one thing I know about Sam Ovraiti is that I can’t seem to leave his studio in a hurry. I go there planning to spend thirty minutes,then I’m there for two hours. It’s not that he chains me to the door or anything remotely diabolical. It’s just that he talks. And talks. And talks. And he is really interesting.