Adegboyega Adesina
The Breeder Open Studio

Nigerian painter Adegboyega Adesina recently completed his participation at The Breeder Open Studio in Athens. Inaugurated by The Breeder in 2019 this initiative offers time to the artist but also to the viewer in order to communicate and engage with each other in more substantial ways. Adegboyega Adesina set up a studio inside the gallery, creating a new body of works. Artists participating in the The Breeder Open Studio have the luxury of time and also the unique opportunity to spend time in the city of Athens and get inspired by its unique heritage and vibrant contemporary scene.

Based in Lagos, Nigeria, Adegboyega Adesina (b. 1998) creates intimate portraits of Black subjects featuring rich color palettes and a dynamic sense of personality. The works produced during the Open Studio and on view at The Breeder Feeder until May 18th, 2022 present a complex but highly personal investigation of the communal relationship between himself and his space of existence seen through the lens of his personal history, his people and the cultures, traditions and political views shaping the societal norm. Adesina produces paintings that create an intriguing dialogue between the subject’s message and the viewer, ultimately awakening the consciousness of the viewer about his coexistence with both animate and inanimate objects. He describes his work ‘as a form of energy transfer from himself to the canvas, adopting several forms of biological relationships in his expressions and ideologies. This is quite therapeutic for me as my works are masked emotions triggered by events that affect me directly or indirectly, hence creating a space for my imaginations and reality to coexist’.

“The open studio was an opportunity for me to push the boundaries of my reality to further learn and understand the relationship of people with their environment. It is also a residency programme that happened at a very pivotal point in my practice as an artist. The works I created during this residency are works to enhance my techniques and expressions.
The works “Portraits of Madewa and Ginika” and “Portrait of Buqaqawuli” are portrait studies of some of the models I have worked with closely whereby I explored and delved into a newer palette on my figures and techniques with aim to push my artistic technique.

The works “The Scuba Diver” and “Masiri and the little birds” are works from my on going project titled “In this space for two” where I generate conversations about the politics of shared spaces with exaggeration on the dominance of man over other forms of nature. These works are illustrations of how humans often take animals from their natural habitat and create an alike habitat for them to dwell in. It’s an attempt to raise the consciousness and continue the conversations on the dominance of man over other forms of nature in this series.”

-Adegboyega Adesina, Athens, 2022