Playing 'Catchup'

It feels like I'm so far behind on the many things I wanted to say, so be patient with me. I've seen a lot of shows and heard a lot of things in the past month.. So much that I haven't had time to post. So here it goes...

Odili Odita's Artist Lecture
Odili Odita is a Nigerian-born painter that utilizes geometricized shapes of color painted on canvas and directly onto the wall surface. During the visiting artist lecture, Odita spoke of his color choice being personal colors that are used in order to trigger something in the viewer, like a memory or an emotion. This idea of universality of emotions is said to have began with Kandinsky and his use of abstraction; however, Odita utilizes space in a much different way. Being born in Nigeria, Odita is even more sensitive to presence of differences in societies, and drew from the inventions of televisions and computer as a source and inspiration. In particular, he spoke of the particular moment that a person turns on their television and sees everything and nothing at that same time; he utilizes the screen as a portal into other worlds, and his artwork as a statement that television is as subjective as art is. In his earlier works, it became obvious that he was focusing on color and utilized it to highlight subtle differences. Further on, he began to complicate his work by increasing the size and thus interacting the body within his work while complicating the weaving geometric triangles to form interlocking zigzags that made the composition more complex.
Some of Odita’s most interesting pieces are his wall paintings because it culminates his ideas more fluently and more concretely. The wall paintings could be done wherever there is a wall, and they are made specifically for a space. It feels like the wall paintings have more possibilities in composition and do not feel as limited, almost as if the canvas was not sufficient in holding his paintings, so he had to burst over them. The idea that his wall paintings are commissioned just for the space sums up his opinion on art, especially because he takes into consideration where the viewer stands, the openness of the space, the lighting, and the surrounding items in the space.

My favorite installation:

For more artworks, see Odili Odita's website:
http://www.odilidonaldodita.com/