Collins Obijiaku:
Two Boys
12.26 is pleased to present Two Boys, a series of three diptych portraits by Collins Obijiaku.
Obijiaku is known for his powerful Black portraiture, signature use of yellow ochre pigments, and the piercing gaze his subjects cast on the viewer. Two Boys represents a departure for the artist, whose oil and charcoal paintings typically depict stand-alone individuals isolated in an aura of commemorative memorialization.
Each portrait possesses the formal qualities of the self-taught artist’s characteristic brushwork and color palette. Swaths of baby blue accompany each portrait’s background, leaving a plain surface from which the figures can radiate.
The six portraits represent Nigerian and African youths coming together. While the boys featured in this series appear stoic, with calm demeanors and expressions, an underlying energy of unrest ruminates beneath the surface.
In Two Boys, Obijiaku addresses the ongoing social issues afflicting Nigerians, specifically concerns with police brutality. Nigerian law enforcement and the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) have infringed on the human rights of Nigerian civilians since 2020, resulting in the death, torture, and detention of innocent protestors. The political unease in Nigeria troubles Obijiaku, who faces challenges getting to his studio due to a dense network of police surveillance checkpoints.
Despite the civil distress, Two Boys conveys a narrative of youthful resistance and rebellion. The doubled portraits amplify the symbolism of adolescence, contemplating the complex dynamism and duality of fragility and resilience, and uncertainty.
Collins Obijiaku (b. 1995, Kaduna, Nigeria) lives and works in Abuja, Nigeria. Obijiaku has presented solo exhibitions with Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, CA (2024 & 2022); Ada Contemporary Art Gallery, Accra, Ghana (2020). He has been in group exhibitions at Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York, NY (2021); Luce Gallery, Italy (2021); Unit, London, UK (2020); CFHILL, Stockholm (2020); Museum of African Diaspora, San Francisco, CA (2020); National Gallery of Arts, Lagos, Nigeria (2017); and Korean Cultural Center, Abuja, Nigeria (2017). Obijiaku was an artist-in-residence at Black Rock, Dakar, Senegal (2020). His work resides in the permanent collection of the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX.
Obijiaku is known for his powerful Black portraiture, signature use of yellow ochre pigments, and the piercing gaze his subjects cast on the viewer. Two Boys represents a departure for the artist, whose oil and charcoal paintings typically depict stand-alone individuals isolated in an aura of commemorative memorialization.
Each portrait possesses the formal qualities of the self-taught artist’s characteristic brushwork and color palette. Swaths of baby blue accompany each portrait’s background, leaving a plain surface from which the figures can radiate.
The six portraits represent Nigerian and African youths coming together. While the boys featured in this series appear stoic, with calm demeanors and expressions, an underlying energy of unrest ruminates beneath the surface.
In Two Boys, Obijiaku addresses the ongoing social issues afflicting Nigerians, specifically concerns with police brutality. Nigerian law enforcement and the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) have infringed on the human rights of Nigerian civilians since 2020, resulting in the death, torture, and detention of innocent protestors. The political unease in Nigeria troubles Obijiaku, who faces challenges getting to his studio due to a dense network of police surveillance checkpoints.
Despite the civil distress, Two Boys conveys a narrative of youthful resistance and rebellion. The doubled portraits amplify the symbolism of adolescence, contemplating the complex dynamism and duality of fragility and resilience, and uncertainty.
Collins Obijiaku (b. 1995, Kaduna, Nigeria) lives and works in Abuja, Nigeria. Obijiaku has presented solo exhibitions with Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, CA (2024 & 2022); Ada Contemporary Art Gallery, Accra, Ghana (2020). He has been in group exhibitions at Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York, NY (2021); Luce Gallery, Italy (2021); Unit, London, UK (2020); CFHILL, Stockholm (2020); Museum of African Diaspora, San Francisco, CA (2020); National Gallery of Arts, Lagos, Nigeria (2017); and Korean Cultural Center, Abuja, Nigeria (2017). Obijiaku was an artist-in-residence at Black Rock, Dakar, Senegal (2020). His work resides in the permanent collection of the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX.
