May 23, 2020 - Sep 6, 2020
Curator: Malgorzata Paszylka
Bob-Nosa Uwagboe quickly found out that art is an effective form of social activism leading to changes that he considers necessary in his country. Therefore, the artist, as an engaged citizen, focuses his work on manifestations of injustice and violations of human rights and dignity, as well as all signs of pathologies of power experienced by Nigerian society. His works feature caricatured portraits of people performing specific social functions. Just as their images are caricatured, the way they fulfill their duties towards society is a caricature and mockery - because they are cheaters, liars, thieves, human traffickers, and sexual abusers.
Bob-Nosa Uwagboe creates at Protest Art Studio, which he founded shortly after graduating. He classifies his paintings as color ones. This is a field close to his heart, which he perfected while studying painting and fine arts at Auchi Polytechnic. The artist uses various materials: he paints with acrylic, oil and spray paints, and draws with crayons and charcoal. He also uses materials that come from the world described: clothes, bags, strings, paper, as well as artificial hair, sand, even his own old paintings. His works are situated between abstract and figurative art. The characters presented are ghostly and ambiguous, just like the life of an average citizen who cannot cope with a world without transparent rules and laws that give a sense of security and predictability.
