Not your typical masquerade
Artist Wole Lagunju strives to broker conversations around societal issues inherent in human and cultural relations.
Nigerian artist Wole Lagunju, 57, not only tackles social, racial, and gender issues in his work, but is bridging the gap between “the Yoruba speaking cultures of southern Nigeria and the consumer orientated post-fordist capitalist culture of the United States,” (Dr. Charles Gore School of Arts, SOAS).
Born in Oshogbo in Southern Nigeria, Lagunju’s father was a pharmacist with a shop across from the well known gallery Mbari Mbayo. As the area became a hub for contemporary art, Lagunju grew up seeing artists and playwrights begin forming the Oshogbo school of art in the early sixties. Immersed in the creative community around him, he eventually attended University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, studying fine arts and graphic design.
Lagunju worked as an illustrator for many years doing things for newspapers and Glendora, The African Quarterlyon the Arts, an arts journal exploring the resurgence of arts and culture in Nigeria while the country adjusted and recovered from Reaganomics in the late 80s.
His paintings during the 90s referenced Adire, a traditional practice of indigo dyeing, and he exhibited work in Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago, and Germany. It wasn't until 2006, when he was awarded Phillip Ravenhill Fellowship by UCLA, that he decided to move to the United States to pursue his art.
Growing up, Lagunju was always visually fascinated by Yoruba masquerade, and he uses Gelede masks juxtaposed by Western images in his portraiture work.
Visually stunning, the large paintings on canvas typically have one subject adorned with a mask or aso oke (cap). The power exuding from each piece is an extension of Lagunju’s passion and experience in his practice.
Gelede or Efe Gelede masquerade (signifying that it is performed sequentially during the day andnight) is performed by men to entertain women because it is believed they hold a great metaphysical power through their reproductive capacity. To ensure a healthy bloodline and growth of the Yoruba community, the men must please the women to ensure they do not withhold their power.
Read more about the extensive Yoruba masquerade practices here.
Lagunju writes in his artist statement, “He reimagines and transforms cultural icons appropriated from the Dutch Golden, Elizabethan as well as the fifties and sixties, Euro-American eras. Lagunju’s cultural references, mined from the eras of colonization and decolonization of the African continent critique the racial and social structures of the 19th century whilst evoking commentaries on power, femininity and womanhood.”
His work has been photographed in luxury homes for magazines like Luxe Magazine and Palm Beach Living. He has exhibited all over the world, his most recent solo exhibition, “EbonyCurated,” on display in Cape Town, South Africa which opened on February 23, 2023. He has even shown work at James Madison University in 2014.
Gaining more international recognition in the 2010s, Lagunju’s career has stretched across many decades. For him, “The purpose of the artist is to broker conversations within societal issues inherent in human and cultural relations.”
Read more about his career and art practices here in an essay by Dr. Charles Gore, School of Arts, SOAS.
Make sure to follow Lagunju on Instagram @wole_lagunju to see more of his work and check out his website here to keep up with exhibitions and explore his extensive portfolio by stepping into a virtual gallery.