Ademola Akintola

An Ardent Dance of Souls

International Confederation of Art Critics

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Ademola Akintola

Front cover:
Flight I by Ademola Akintola
Acrylic on canvas - 40 x 32 inches
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Ademola Akintola

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Ademola Akintola

ICAC
International Confederation of Art Critics

Tutuola
Oil on canvas - 24 x 24 inches
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Ademola Akintola
An Ardent Dance of Souls

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Ademola Akintola

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 Contents

The Artist 11

Inextinguishable Chromatic Nuances 15

Christopher Rosewood, International Confederation of Art Critics

The Fierce Flow of Creativity 25

Timothy Warrington, International Confederation of Art Critics

The Surprising Perspectives of Nature 35

Elena Foschi, Art Historian

Artwork Analysis 49
Karen Lappon, International Confederation of Art Critics

Exhibitions 63

Awards 65

List of Works 69

Edited by the International Confederation of Art Critics

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Ademola Akintola

I have grown to appreciate art and music, beyond human boundaries

and barriers. [...] From this point of view, I could see the universality
of thoughts and emotions.

The Yorubas would say, erin o yato te de lu oyinbo, meaning that the
act of laughing does not differ, neither is it distinguishable due to
differences in race or colour.

Human beings react to things that makes them laugh or cry in the
same way. So theres that universal bonding within mankind from the
North to the South, East to the West

Ademola Akintola

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Ademola Akintola

Ademola Akintola in his studio

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 The Artist

Born in Oyo State Nigeria in 1952, Ademola Akintola has exhibited

widely both in Africa, Europe and USA. He is a self-taught artist
and brings us a series of lively paintings which are visual narratives
of African storytelling, combined with the political realities of
contemporary life.

Ademola Akintolas mother Mrs Moshobalaje Alice Akintola was very

creative, and passed the artistic gene to Ademola and his brothers
and they in their turn, to their children.

Ademolas art consciousness started when he was about eight years

old, he would draw, model with clay, or carve using thorns from
cotton-silk tree in his free time, portraying everyday life.
He was influenced by the hand carved wooden posts, pillars, wall
paintings and decorations of the King of Oyos palace and the famous
calabash carvers with their very intricate designs.

His father never wanted him to be an artist. But in his final year in
secondary school his dad bought him art materials, after he realised
that Ademola couldnt be dissuaded from doing art anymore.
He decided not to take up an offer to study art the Yaba College of
Technology. After teaching in an elementary school for a year, he
spent the next 5 years touring Africa from the West to the North,
painting portraits of prominent people and graphic illustrations
for advertising companies to support himself. Exposure to various
African art forms gave him quite an insight into various African
cultures and has heavily influenced his Art. After completing several
residencies in the US, he was offered a residency at the Tate and
moved permanently to the UK in 1990.

Ademola Akintola is now widely recognised as one of the current

foremost African/British artists. Over the years, with several highly
prestigious and successful solo exhibitions, he has participated in a
number of significant group shows, most notably Aids in the Black
community and Black Family Exhibition. After having worked
mainly in his local community for the last 20 years he is now back in
full force with new international exhibitions.

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Ademola Akintola

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Ademola Akintola

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 Inextinguishable Chromatic Nuances

Christopher Rosewood
International Confederation of Art Critics

Ademola Akintola is an eclectic expressive painter who

communicates his innate creative instinct in his own distinct
language of colours and drawings with the only purpose to
mesmerise the viewer.

His unique and variegated style is characterized by fluid and

appealing compositions that surprise and capture the viewers
eye in a maze of dancing forms. The vibrant brush-strokes
and the ability to create a harmonious whole, strengthen the
spectators admiration for this artists passionate talent.

Art History is born with African Art and the influence of

traditional Sub-Saharan creativity delineates the roots of
all Ademolas works, laying the foundations for a modern
interpretation of a cultural heritage in an unceasing evolution.
In fact, as the artist explains:

I want to believe that if I tag my art as African Art, I am

merely talking about my background as an African because
Art is universal. It cannot be distinguished either by colour,
race or creed.

A vibrant whirlwind of colours, ardent dancers between

primary tints, floating contrasts and rounded shapes, create
a wonderful trap in which we are enthusiastically caught. The
human figure has always been the primary subject for most
African art, but in Ademolas representations the bodies merge
with the rest of the painting, incorporating the background
and creating a new entity that becomes pure artistry.

Girls at Puberty
Acrylic on panel - 60 x 48 inches
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Ademola Akintola

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 Critique

Irrepressible Chromatic Nuances

The surrounding atmosphere evolves into the very history of a

continent, of a community and of so many different traditional
cultures. Each artwork is a sharp but intricate reflection of
Ademolas deep cultural roots. Furthermore, Akintola is not
only the architect of a conceptual reality and the interpreter
of a complex perception of the external world, but he is also
a witness of the social injustices and sufferings of his people,
shaken by turbulent riots and internal conflicts.

Africa is only the beginning: while we are intrigued by

anthropomorphic representations of supernatural-like
presence, Ademola speaks louder with the direct language of
art, making us forget landmarks and cultural diversities.

Ademola demonstrates the power of supremely well

organised forms. He creates not only by responding to visual
perception, but primarily to imagination, in a mystical and
religious experience. In each composition there is a clearly
perceivable sophistication, unified by phenomenal expressive
power, using highly stylized human figures influenced by
Henri Matisse and Georges Braque. But even before that, the
originality of his work depends on the traditional forms by
African Unsung Masters, whose works had a great importance
in the development of modern European art.

Ademola combines the harmony of different cubist

perspectives with the force of the impressionist brushwork
of Camille Pissarro, passing through the dynamic shades of
the mature Fauve painter Maurice de Vlaminck. The resulting
pictorial liveness and vivid colour palette, defines Ademolas
original communicative style.

Christopher Rosewood
International Confederation of Art Critics

Boat
Oil on canvas - 30 x 24 inches
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Ademola Akintola

Anetalia - Genitalia (with detail)

Mixed media on panel - 30 x 40 inches

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Ademola Akintola

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Ademola Akintola

Fixation (with details)

Oil on canvas - 44 x 38 inches

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Faces and Masks (with details)
Oil on canvas - 39 x 28 inches

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Ademola Akintola

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 The Fierce Flow of Creativity

Timothy Warrington
International Confederation of Art Critics

Ademola Akintola is a talented painter whose style ranges

from creating traditional figurative still lives and post-
impressionist landscapes to absolutely abstract works. The
first impression of Akintolas artworks is that he is a learned
painter that draws his inspiration from the old masters of art
history.

His figurative creations are painted with sheer virtuosity and

fine attention to detail. But it is the great depth and brilliance
of colour that really brings these works to life.

Akintola greatest talent lies in his eclectic expression of his

most intimate creative aspirations: despite experiencing
different surfaces and various pictorial techniques, he never
loses sight of the primary aim of charming, involving and
moving the viewer.

Some post-impressionist portraits are of forceful emotional

communication. The decisive and vigorous gestures,
accompanied by brilliant colour emphasise the lively, almost
tumultuous nature of his subjects. Dancers, lovers, masks or
just liquid figures, they are all animated by a river of passion,
emotion, music and joie de vivre.

With their varied textures and media, Akintolas intriguing

compositions weaves an almost mystical harmony and the
consequent balance highlights the also rational side of
Akintolas artistic skill. On the other hand, Akintolas more
abstract paintings are essentially sensorial depictions of his
innermost sensitivity.

Conception
Acrylic on canvas - 39 x 39 inches
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Ademola Akintola

Dancers
Acrylic on canvas - 30 x 30 inches

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The Fierce Flow of Creativity

Again, colours play a central part. The effect created by the

combination of analogous and complementary colours is
stunning and their strong impact on the eye is absolutely
magnetising and overwhelming.

Figures are frequently painted with undefined, soft features

which render them anonymous, but not less expressive and
meaningful; we are provoked to employ our own imagination
and subsequent interpretation of the characters depicted.

In various works, thick brush strokes portray a quasicollage

effect, bringing the many shades and shadows together
within the canvas, thus compelling us to discover the mystery
behind the artwork. This unique use of colour displays the
combination of intensity and softness that underlies all life
experiences, highlighting Akintolas scope of artistic ability.

The rhythmic and poetic compositions create a peaceful

portrayal of scenes, in juxtaposition with the contrasting
colours and the lively figures with a clear sense of movement,
emphasising the attractive nature of the paintings.

The enthusiastic palette perfectly displays the African spirit,

depicting a clear cultural influence that is transformed into
an amalgamation of energy within the paint. It appeals to
the most fundamental part of the human experience that we
all share the passion for life and the appreciation for the
aesthetic nature of the world around us.

As the writer W. Somerset Maugham said: The artist produces

for the liberation of his soul. It is his nature to create as it is the
nature of water to run down the hill.

Akintola certainly feels this creative need with his whole

being, manifested in an exuberant freedom of thought and
action.

Timothy Warrington
International Confederation of Art Critics

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Ademola Akintola

Composition with Lines

Acrylic on canvas - 39 x 39 inches

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 Cyclists
Acrylic on canvas - 39 x 39 inches

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Ademola Akintola

Masks (with detail)

Metal mix media on panel - 40 x 38 inches

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Ademola Akintola

Most times, I allow my thoughts to crystallise and let intuition

flow like a river to determine the process of my art. The material
of exploitation is allowed to have a say in the process of my work
giving room for what my mind is seeing instead of what my eyes
are telling me. I observe things with my inner mind so that the
perceived image can render me its own interpretation.

Ademola Akintola

Ebun
Oil on canvas - 24 x 24 inches
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Ademola Akintola

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 The Surprising Perspectives of Nature

Elena Foschi
International Confederation of Art Critics

Ademola Akintola binds both emotional and rational aspects

in his works, displaying a clear versatility in styles and
techniques that comes from his wide range of experiences
obtained during his extensive travels.

The intense palette entices us into vivid scenes of brightness

and movement, depicting a deep-rooted sense of the
appreciation for diversity within cultures and continents.

Not only this, but also the close attention to detail with regards
to the light within the painting creates a sense of effervescence
and amusement that the artist aims to express. As a result,
the overwhelming importance of the visual effect in his work
becomes apparent, and is translated onto the canvases in a
brilliant display of action and passion.

The use of expressive vibrant colour, the simplification of forms

and a fascination with primeval art are constant throughout
his works, characterized by dense, bold brushwork.

Akintola communicates with an euphoria reminiscent of

Andr Derains use of pure, unnatural colours. As the French
painter, Ademola Akintola avoids a traditional modulation
of light and shadow, adopting heavy outlines to suggest
volumetric sections.

Olori
Oil on canvas - 36 x 30 inches
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Ademola Akintola

Detail of Movement of Forms, Oil on canvas, 40 x 40 inches

In the work Olori, the anatomical elements are built

up with thickly-applied patches of paint juxtaposed one
beside the other, creating a stunning effect of strong
contrasts that generate an overall harmonious balance
across the entire surface of the canvas.

In other works, such as Movement of Forms, Akintola

expresses the powerful allurement of the nude female
figure bathing in nature, a subject loved and depicted
by many Great Masters in Art History, like Cezanne in
his late Bathers and Picasso in his Les Demoiselles
dAvignon. The bodies are intertwined in a tribal dance
of fluid movements and the background blends with the
main characters surpassing a classical three-dimensional
perspective.

The deep and warm tones of the shadows are suddenly

transfixed by rays of light, painted with pure and rich
colours, accentuating the outright allure of these paintings.

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Akintola merges the soft shapes of primordial and
intuitive artistic expressions with the Post-impressionistic
geometric experimentations in order to create a timeless
art, removed from any identifiable reality.

Nevertheless, Ademola Akintola penetrates the intimate

fragility and nature of his subjects, thus representing his
creative minds interpretation of the perceivable world.
In viewing Ademolas paintings we discern the Paul
Cezanne statement: The painter unfolds that which
has not been seen. In fact, Ademola is able to feel
and capture the soul of the invisible and then translate
it in an emotional symphony of complementary colours
that entices the subconscious, gradually awakening our
attention to detail that we discover more and more.

Ademola Akintola is a true artist and a talented

communicator in a contemporary art scene that really
needs a sincere and lucid artistic language.

Elena Foschi
International Confederation of Art Critics

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Ademola Akintola

Float
Metal mix media on panel - 44 x 24 inches
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Ademola Akintola is an exemplary artist of pioneering foresight and vision.
The dexterity of his approach is maximised through his ability to work
across traditional fields of art exploration, separated only by technique and
application. Some of his most breathtaking exploratory works integrate
painting with metal etching and relief printing.

His extraordinary imaginative facility thus combines the mastery of

transforming technique into form, providing a thorough understanding
of the inner workings of the very process of art as becoming or as
Ademola himself puts it: It is within the terrain of the companionship
between my consciousness and actions that the object bears the full weight
of my thoughts and presence.

Throughout his creative career, Ademola is endowed with a rich subjective

universe on an exploratory mission of discovery, and it is his job to provision
a pathway to the ever striving endeavour of the subjects curiosity towards
new forms of self- awareness.

Len Folkes
Sabbokai Gallery Curator

Woman
Metal mix media on panel - 48 x 30 inches

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Ademola Akintola

Above: Dancing all Night

Metal mix media on panel - 47.6 x 47.6 inches

Opposite: Labyrinth
Metal mix media on panel - 48 x 30 inches

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Ademola Akintola

Sketch me (with detail)

Oil on canvas - 24 x 24 inches
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Boats (with detail)
Acrylic on canvas - 30 x 30 inches

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Ademola Akintola

That art or creativity is not replicating nature as it is, but

interpreting it in your own language and expression.

Ademola Akintola

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 Monolith I
Metal foil on panel - 36 x 36 inches

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Ademola Akintola

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 Artwork Analysis

Ademolas artistic pathway is rooted in the great History of Art

and is legitimised by eminent intellectual guidance, however,
this artists language never ceases to be an unequivocal
channel that transmits intuitive emotions, a bridge between
us and a desirable dream-like world, prompting spiritual and
emotional reactions. The inspiration of a creativity free of
artificial mediation reminds us of the genius of Paul Klee, who
greatly admired childrens artistry, confident that an angelic
mind is able to create a work of art beyond the boundaries of
models or previous examples.

Similarly, in the stunning canvas Many Heads and One

Fish you perceive the effort to achieve a similar untutored
simplicity, by employing contrasting colours inspired by the
palette of the African landscape, and by drawing contour lines
in an apparently unstudied and primeval manner. In fact, at
a deeper analysis, this artistic approach shows a pure and
radical creativity, the freedom of a childs mind to instinctively
represent the free flow of his dreams. Quoting the artist:

Childrens mind is fluid, not static nor rigid, it is revolutionary,

not dictated by space but rather by what space is offering. It
is innocent in all its forms.

In the process of breaking traditional or academic rules,

Akintola keeps his fantasy within the realm of the ordinary
but with a pinch of magic in his evocative surroundings.
Like the various gradations of colour, the overlapping masks
generates movement, compelling the spectators eye in many
different directions, in a constant metamorphosis of points of
view. Ademola not only sees beauty in the variations of the
natural world and in the facets of the fluctuating humanity,
but shares it through his oeuvre and enables us to see it.

Karen Lappon
International Confederation of Art Critics

Many Heads and One Fish

Oil on canvas - 37 x 25 inches
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Ademola Akintola

Grains of the Same Wood (with detail)

Acrylic on panel - 48 x 36 inches

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There is one thing I have learned and that is as an artist I may finish
a piece of artwork , but the work of art itself lives as a transforming
moment allowing multiple interpretations to consciousness and
in this sense disavows any thought of completeness.

Ademola Akintola

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Ademola Akintola

Lyrical Earth
Oil on panel - 34 x 34 inches

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 Monolith II
Metal foil on panel - 36 x 36 inches

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Ademola Akintola

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 Figures in Motion
Oil on canvas - 40 x 40 inches
Lyrical Earth (with detail)
Acrylic on canvas - 34 x 34 inches

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Ademola Akintola

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 Wings of Freedom
Oil on canvas - 48 x 30 inches

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Ademola Akintola

The conceptuality of forms rendered abstractly, I have found out

is the mother of art. It is intuitive, it is spiritual - it is from the soul,
it is evocative, prompting an emotional reaction. It is the format
in which reality is just an image.

Ademola Akintola

Angels of Colours
Acrylic on canvas - 40 x 32 inches

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The Astronomers, 1997
Oil on canvas - 130x100 cm

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Ademola Akintola

Untitled III
Acrylic on canvas - 40 x 32 inches

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 Violinist
Oil on canvas - 23.6 x 23.6 inches

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Ademola Akintola

Unbroken Spirit
Metal mix media on panel

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 Exhibitions and Awards

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2014 Terra Kulture Gallery, Lagos, Nigeria

1992 Chelsea Library, London
Gill Gallery, London
Lyric Theatre, London
1991 Black Cultural Archive, London
1990 Nigerian High Commission, London
Commonwealth Institute, London
1987 American Cultural Centre, Ibadan, Nigeria
1984 National Museum, Jos, Nigeria
1983 Cincinnati & New York Universities, USA
Alliance Francaise, Ibadan, Nigeria
1982 Alliance Francaise, Ibadan, Nigeria
British Council, Kaduna, Nigeria

Selected Group Exhibitions

2014 Andre Guichard Gallery, Chicago, USA

1993 New York Art Expo, USA
Haddenham Gallery, Ely, Cambridgeshire, UK
Royal South West of England Show, UK
Bishopsgate Institute, London
1991 South of the World, Italy
Tabernacle Gallery, London
1990 Black Arts Gallery, London
1988 Rockville Centre, Long Island, New York, USA
Art on the Lake, Guntersville, Alabama, USA
Indiana Black Exp., USA

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Ademola Akintola

Ademola Akintola with Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, the staff
and the students of Charles Dickens Primary School in London.

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 Exhibitions and Awards

Residencies

2002 Charles Dickens School, London

2000 Whitgift School, Croydon
1999/2000 Tate Gallery, London
1995 Craft Council, London
1994 EMACA Visual Arts, Nottingham, UK
1993 ACFF, Nottingham, UK
1991 Horniman Museum, London
1988 Artist-in-Residence, Ipswich Museum, UK
Artist-in-Residence, Bristol Museum, UK
Indiana Childrens Museum, USA
1987 Calhoun State University, Alabama, USA

Publications

1994-1995 Illustrated The River That Went To The Sky, Selected Stories by 12
African Authors, published in the USA and UK by Kingfisher Books
1993 Mentioned in the Whos Who of Nigerian Artists by the Smithsonian
Institute, Washington DC, USA

Collections

Horniman Museum London

Private collections throughout the world

Awards

1993 Award Winner, Royal South West of England Show, Bath

1989 Award Winner, French Revolution Anniversary Competition, Lagos, Nigeria
1988 Award of Excellence, Art on the Lake, Guntersville, Alabama, USA
Award of Excellence, Rockville Centre, Long Island, New York, USA

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Flight II
Acrylic on canvas - 40 x 32 inches

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 List of Works

Tutuola, oil on canvas - 24 x 24 inches 5

Elders, metal mixed media on panel - 20 x 30 inches 6
Return of Eyo, oil on paper - 30 x 24 inches 8-9
Orin Tuntun, oil on canvas - 40 x 36 inches 12-13
Girls at Puberty, acrylic on panel - 60 x 48 inches 14
Boat, oil on canvas - 30 x 24 inches 16
Anetalia - Genitalia, mixed media on panel - 30 x 40 inches 18-19
Embrace of Youthful Love, oil on canvas - 30 x 30 inches 20-21
Fixation, oil on canvas - 44 x 38 inches 22
Faces and Masks, oil on canvas - 39 x 28 inches 23
Conception, acrylic on canvas - 39 x 39 inches 24
Dancers, acrylic on canvas - 30 x 30 inches 26
Composition with Lines, acrylic on canvas - 39 x 39 inches 28
Cyclists, acrylic on canvas - 39 x 39 inches 29
Masks, metal mix media on panel - 40 x 38 inches 30-31
Ebun, oil on canvas - 24 x 24 inches 33
Olori, oil on canvas - 36 x 30 inches 34
Movement of Forms, oil on canvas, 40 x 40 inches 36-37
Float, metal mix media on panel - 44 x 24 inches 38
Woman, metal mix media on panel - 48 x 30 inches 39
Symbols and Images, oil on panel - 40 x 30 inches 40-41
Dancing all Night, metal mix media on panel - 47.6 x 47.6 inches 42
Labyrinth, metal mix media on panel - 48 x 30 inches 43
Sketch me, oil on canvas - 24 x 24 inches 44
Boats, acrylic on canvas - 30 x 30 inches 45
Monolith I, metal foil on panel - 36 x 36 inches 46-47
Many Heads and One Fish, oil on canvas - 37 x 25 inches 48
Grains of the Same Wood, acrylic on panel - 48 x 36 inches 50-51
Lyrical Earth, oil on panel - 34 x 34 inches 52
Monolith II, metal foil on panel - 36 x 36 inches 53
Lyrical Earth, acrylic on canvas - 34 x 34 inches 54
Figures in Motion, oil on canvas - 40 x 40 inches 55
Wings of Freedom, oil on canvas - 48 x 30 inches 56-57
Angels of Colours, acrylic on canvas - 40 x 32 inches 59
Untitled III, acrylic on canvas - 40 x 32 inches 60
Violinist, oil on canvas - 23.6 x 23.6 inches 61
Unbroken Spirit, metal mix media on panel 62
Market Women, acrylic on canvas - 30 x 30 inches 66-67
Flight II, acrylic on canvas - 40 x 32 inches 68

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 Edited and published by
International Confederation of Art Critics
London, 2016

Copyright 2016 International Confederation of Art Critics

Layout by Elena Foschi

www.international-confederation-art-critics.org
509 Kings Road, London, UK.
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International Confederation of Art Critics