Idowu Oluwaseun: A Coloured Story: Chapter II

Idowu Oluwaseun’s A Coloured Story: Chapter II is a continuation of an exhibition originally held at GNYP Gallery in Berlin in 2022. In these two shows, Oluwaseun, who was born in Nigeria and now based in Texas, explores Black intimacy across a spectrum of shades of skin. These larger-than-life canvases address the concept and history of colorism both in the United States and Nigeria. 

Inspired by photographer Malick Sidibe, Oluwaseun’s models pose organically against a gray backdrop. Sometimes pre-planned, at other times improvised, the models’ contrasting skin tones sharpen against their neutral surrounds. The artist’s use of scale is especially important, as viewers are commanded by the works not to look away. This sense of monumentality forces viewers to contend with Oluwaseun’s subject matter— an equally grand concept that must be matched physically.

The underpinnings of prejudice through colorism in Oluwaseun’s hometown of Lagos, Nigeria, the United States, and among the African diaspora in other nations, serve as Oluwaseun’s central point of discussion in this body of work. Focusing primarily on the content behind these works rather than the formal and aesthetic elements of the paintings allows the artist to pose questions about contemporary and historical racism and colorism that can often be difficult to discuss. For Oluwaseun, looking inwards towards the community in which he was raised allows for an entryway into conversations about the prevalence of colorism and the effects it has on societal structure in Nigeria and the United States. Oluwaseun demonstrates how proximity to whiteness becomes the rubric by which economic, social, and creative opportunity is doled out and measured, and where bleaching creams and beauty products, advertising tools, photoshop, and other mechanisms are readily employed in media to drive home the idea that the whiter one is, the more deserving they are of opportunity, respect, adoration, and care.

 Intergenerational colonialism, which privileges whiteness over all, does not account for the inner potential of each individual portrayed in Oluwaseun’s works. Rather, the artist seeks to explore each figure’s personhood, completely divorced from their outward appearance. His choice to work with models from Lagos with variations in skin tone highlights an irony inherent in the social and racial dynamics at play in Nigeria today—often these individuals can be objectified and seen as possessors of shamanistic qualities with access to  higher quasi-religious powers.

Oluwaseun displays these bodies in their entirety, but without any indication of their physiognomy. By choosing to conceal his models’ eyes with patterned cloths and lace, he extends a protective anonymity that ellipses key entry points into their identities. In doing so, the artist reminds viewers that the focal point of the work is the subject matter, rather than the models themselves. Creating a sense of anonymity in the figures urges viewers to dwell within the conceptual world of this body of work, and protects the subjects from our gaze.