For more than two decades, Busayo Lawal (b. 1976) has interrogated the
conventions of visual vocabularies to challenge received notions of the time-
space continuum, migration and power.
In his first major exhibition in Nigeria titled Life in Asymmetry — after his debut
exhibition at the Pan Atlantic University in 2014 — Lawal has created a seminal
body of work that is premised on his lifelong obsession with the rich tapestries of
aso oke, the ceremonial woven cloth that is unique to the Yoruba people of West
Africa and its diaspora. From large scale paintings to drawings on paper, Lawal
has repurposed in new and inventive forms the motifs and colour schemes that
are central to an ageless tradition.
Life in Asymmetry is Lawal’s artistic statement writ-large. The intricacies of
woven cloth and the beguiling patterns that they form do tell the stories of craft
and purpose, dedication and cultural histories, fortitude and fate. “What makes
the man is the story. What makes the story is the man” says the artist, a pithy
maxim that conceals enormous complexities, as true in life as it is this new body
of work.
Busayo Lawal makes some of his most riveting works on paper. Only a fraction of
the current total of 10 000 works in pencil and ink are on show in Life in
Asymmetry, the majority of which date from 2008 until today. Some are
automatic drawings while others are predetermined compositions, typically theproduct of concerted effort but seldom as a distraction from other demanding
activities.
Drawing frequently on sheets of paper as well as sketchpads, Lawal has perfected
his use of continuous lines to coax shape and movement in his exploration of
psychic and physical states. In these works, standing figures with differing
gestures suggest protest, resignation and idleness inspired by people from all
walks of life. Other works examine the natural laws of balance and harmony, as
well as the manipulations of mechanical systems like the wheel axis. Dense and
webbed circular structures — often with smaller ones orbiting around them —
take the form of graphical reflections on weight, mass and energy
Lawal’s lifelong obsession with the abstracted patterns on aso oke has engineered
a recognisable visual signature — if “style” is too frivolous a word — but the
meanings and interpretations differ from one work to another. The slim, flowing
and densely packed lines in bold, opaque colours over jet-black underpaint could
denote the mindless pursuit of wealth in one work. In a different work, a similar
composition joyfully celebrates the ordinary and undistinguished.
Timeless Rush (2021) is a sweeping critique of the immense wealth and immense
inequality created by the Portugese-led gold rush in West Africa between the 15th
and 17th centuries. The Monumental Man (2020) is a tribute to the working class
and those at the lower rungs of societal order who go through life uncelebrated.
Emerging Man (2020) posits humankind is perpetually evolving into a better
being. The implication is that we are forever in what the Yorubas call “oju dudu”,
an age of ignorance that is continuously negotiated by new discoveries.
The message is the aim rather than any selfish (or selfless) artistic goal to create
abstraction for its own sake. Lawal insists that these works are not hybrid forms
of figuration and abstraction even when a figure can be made out. “I employ
abstract concepts in my work from conception to the finished piece” says the
artist, “but I push the boundaries of my paintings by employing distorted humancharacters or distorted human form or caricatures”. These “distorted” figures
signify the imperfections and limitations of humans. For Lawal the process is
clear and simple. He employs form, texture, line, pattern and composition in
order to create an engaged visual experience and abstraction is his preferred
method.
One key series in Life in Asymmetry is titled Portrait of Mr Say Something
(2020), a set of eight paintings in equal sizes (75 x 68 cm) and whose en face
figures differ slightly in posture but widley in colour compositions. Each figure has
a dense compaction that resembles dreadlocks which dominate the negative
space on either side of the figure’s face. In place of the anatomy of the face is
Lawal’s signature combination of geometry and colour; square and rectangular
blocks with competing intensity which are webbed over with thick sinuous lines.
One of Lawal’s intentions for the series is to encapsulate the idea of irrepressive
truth and the brave who speak it out even to their detriment. “I see this on a
daily basis in my homeland and many times it’s usually painful and saddens the
meekest of hearts” says the artist “I see the face in the work momentarily in a
state of flux in between the path to the truth and the opposite side”.
The lavishly painted hair on the figures are loaded with the socio-political overlay
of beauty and racial pride, amongst others. For Lawal, the hair is a crown and
therefore carries allusions of attraction and power: “These elements are used
interchangeably either to create, nurture or manipulate”. This is also true of
Lawal’s visual signature which is used to reimagine a wide range of thematic
concerns. The two components “signature” and “themes” are subject to
continuous, independent investigations and discoveries.
As well as the finished works, Lawal’s chosen materials carry weighty significance
of their own. The lithographic paint or printer’s ink represents the printing press
throughout the history of mass communication, while the graphite with which he
draws is a stand-in for erased or undocumented histories and knowledge on thecontinent. From global trade circuits to the evolution of thought to egalitarian
concerns, Lawal’s high minded thematic range is rendered through a well-refined
process and visual signature.