Flora Wirgman
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Head of Department
Group Head, Fine Art, U.K
Professor Uche Okeke spoke widely about the nature of his artistic practice and the wider landscape of Nigerian art in the second half of the twentieth century. Writing in 1968, he explained:
'To communicate effectively by way of art is to show real understanding and deep sympathy for the artist's felt experiences - material, or physical and psychic. Where a creative mind gives vent to felt idea, that is an idea which has gone through his finer sensibilities and has acquired material form by way of technique, the imagery although personal and private carries conviction.
A truly creative mind is well able to communicate with the widest possible public with varied life-experiences. The attribute of genius is the ability to reach the depth of human feeling with the barest means - to be childlike of vision without being childish' (Uche Okeke, 2019 [1982]: p. 45).
The works on paper by the artist evidence a creative mind experimenting with different media and approaches to mark-making in his quest to express human experience.
Bibliography
Uche Okeke, Art in Development - A Nigerian Perspective (Germany, 2019 [1982]).