Epic Journeys: Art Exhibition

Artist, curator, critic and cultural ambassador Dr. Hassan Aliyu (DProf), FRSA – President of the Nigeria Art Society UK (NASUK) and member of the Guild of Professional Fine Artists of Nigeria (MGFA) – is a seminal contributor to both the Nigerian and British art worlds.

The exhibition ‘Epic Journeys’ presents the first retrospective of his remarkable career. Groundbreaking works from the first three decades of his practice, on loan to Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, are displayed in a linked exhibition with brand new pieces, on a newly epic scale, at ArtSpace5-7 in Portugal Place, Cambridge.

This linked exhibition traces the evolution of Aliyu's artistic practice: from evocative figurative painting, to increasingly abstracted and fragmented forms of ‘collaged paintings’ that redefine and transcend artistic media. His innovative, ingeniously subversive use of found materials reflects sociopolitical and economic realities. Informed by his academic research, his vast, all-encompassing maelstrom-like works are meticulously assembled from scraps of imported consumer goods packaging: a technique he first developed as a Fine Art student at Ahmadu Bello University, when IMF-imposed austerity measures limited access to art materials.

By confronting the enduring legacy of slavery, colonialism, and capitalist exploitation, and fostering a meaningful discourse on Africa’s developmental trajectory, while advocating for social justice, Aliyu’s art offers an alternative perspective on the present and the future from the discarded relics of the past, at once imbued with resistance and with hope.

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Host or Publisher ArtSpace 5-7