OCOM ADONIAS WHO IS YOUR SAINT?

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1 OCOM ADONIAS WHO IS YOUR SAINT?

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3 WHO IS YOUR SAINT? OCOM ADONIAS 20th April - 18th May 2018 Afriart Gallery on Kira Road Kamwokya Kampala

4 Who is your Saint? Ocom Adonias questions the make-believe ideology of Sainthood As a child growing up in Kireka, on the outskirts of Kampala, Ocom Adonias was exposed to a simple life. He was surrounded by ordinary people who made an impact on his life through the simple deeds they extended to him. These were his heroes or in other words, his saints. In his world, saints were day to day people going about their routine life of survival and had nothing to do with the near to perfection attribute and spiritual aloofness that the Catholic faith preaches. This contrast in experience and ideology influences the narrative Who is your Saint? which is the subject matter of his recent body of work on show. While interrogating the theme of Who is your Saint?, the artist delves into aspects of day to day life of urbanites, prevailing political discourse, and sexuality that inspire the notion of Sainthood. It could be that rolex (Ugandan snack) seller on the road-side that fixes you a rolex for lunch when you re too broke to afford a proper meal, a boda-boda (motorcycle transportation) guy who gives you a ride to catch that life-changing meeting amidst the Kampala traffic jam or the well-endowed Chic with an ample bust and a round bum every girl in the neighborhood wants to be like. The artist draws a halo on each of these central characters in his drawings as a symbol of honor. More so, this technique of venerating these ordinary personalities on the street evokes the question: what s saintly enough? Does having a voluptuous butt or burst, or selling second-hand clothes on the city pavements make one a saint? The artist s ploy of raising such question is spot on with intent to inspire debate on the topic. His conviction is that anyone can be a saint and we should not wait for others to make for us saints based on their own judgment. Additionally, this interrogation is a figurative interpretation of what society perceives as good or bad. Often times, society paints an exaggerated image of what a role model should be. The ideal picture of a perfect person is one who s morally upright and is rich. Through such make-believe philosophy, society becomes prejudiced; idolizing the rich and famous, and at the same time, demonizing the ordinary characters on the street that are poor and sometimes naughty in nature. Nonetheless, a reverse of such overstated perception is being embraced today in different spheres of society. For example, many young women admire characters like Uganda s Desire Luzinda and America s Kim Kardashian for their flamboyant sexuality and go an extra mile to purchase synthetic bums or take pills in order to achieve their look. The same notion applies to the controversial subject of migrants in Europe and Israel that are harassed by the respective governments to return home. Though a section of the public perceives the political figureheads of these countries as insensitive to humanity, another lot celebrates their actions as pragmatic and nationalistic.

5 Ocom s technique of employing paper collage and watercolors on hard surface adds to the narrative of artistic inquiry. He recycles old newspapers into his artwork to create a statement of validating waste material as an authentic medium. This approach partly, coincides with his statement, Simplest forms should speak volume, while at the same time demonstrates the artist s dexterity in studio skills. As he applies the collage on the surface, he adopts the additional and subtraction technique that is familiar to sculptural artworks- the artist has a background as a sculptor. Through the methodology of blocking out some aspects of the artwork and accentuating others using paper collage, the artist is able to construct drawings that are not only energetic and vibrant in nature but imbue depth and form familiar to figurines. Similarly, there s a sense of rhythm in his paintings suggested by the quick sketchy drawings looming in the background and on the other hand, perfectly constructed images adorning the foreground. The ability to control and balance both forms at once generates pace for the drawings and lures the audience into the artwork. The concept of inviting the public into his drawings is further enhanced through the adoption of familiar faces into the artwork. In light of this technique, the audience can identify certain political or social protagonists that it can relate to. Suffice to say, such approach inspires artistic parody like is the case in the drawing where two skimpily dressed women are caressing the broad-chest of Chinese President Xin Jinping as a symbol of Africa s infatuation with China. This sexual innuendo stimulates comic interpretation of such a hard topic to digest. Incidentally, the theme of Africa s relationship with China has been explored previously by Kenyan satirist artist Michael Soi in his series China loves Africa where he stimulates conversation on what he calls economic re-colonization of Africa by China. However, Ocom s questioning of the topic is more subtle compared to Soi s almost overt drawings. With such a venture into technical dexterity and the fact that the artist can provoke debate on pertinent issues of society while interrogating a more controversial topic on sainthood in contemporary society, it is only worthy to think of him as a master in the making. Such aptitude is unique to artists who think beyond the ordinary, and though the artist emphasizes his passion for the simplest perception of life, he s a more complex figure when it comes to his creative ingenuity. His thirst to experiment and question such societal biases sum up his intricate nature and certainly will influence his future artistic prospects. Review by Dominic Muwanguzi, an art Journalist, and Critic

6 Afro-Chinese affair, 2018

7 Afrotopia search, 2018

8 Last photos, 2018

9 Mama Godi, x 216cm

10 Naalu, 2018

11 Road masita, 2018

12 Rolex conversations, 2018

13 Saint kany ankole, 2018

14 Saint Kiiwa, 2018

15 Saint Kikuubo, 2018

16 Saint Owino, 2018

17 Saint Rolex - Munna, 2018

18 Silent conversations, 2018

19 Street disciples 1, 2018

20 Street disciples 2, 2018

21 Street guitarist, 2018

22 Ba slay queeni, 2018

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