A modern-day Renaissance Man, British-Nigerian artist Adébayo Bolaji has experience both on screen and stage, before and behind the curtain; he is a thinker and poet – frequently posting his musings online for his followers to consider; and an artist, effortlessly breaching the gap between painting and sculpture, and blurring the lines between his personal life and a shared, creative persona presented to the viewer.
The artist, a graduate from the Central School of Speech and Drama, presents ‘The Power and the Pause’. This is a series of brand-new works that consider the strength and complications that arise from periods of cessation. Certainly, we have experienced a global interruption unprecedented in modern times; but on a microcosmic level, each of us – creators and otherwise – have also experienced the ramifications of this abscondment from ‘normal life’. But when viewed from an alternate angle, how can this period become fruitful? In spiritual teachings, the breathing pause is a space of clarity, oneness, revitalization. Across many religions and cultural traditions, the concept of ‘stepping out’ of the real world is seen as beneficial; a closeness to transcendence. How can an artist translate such a period, with its myriad emotions, complex political and social effects, and indiscriminate and severe consequences, into something powerful, productive? Bolaji does exactly that, and in the process, challenges notions of control and power, personal strength and weakness, and the illusory and very, very real occurrences resulting from a prolonged period of suspended animation – on intimate and global scales?
This is Bolaji’s first solo with Beers London, at the gallery’s new location, moments from London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral, and a walk away from the Barbican Centre. The exhibition runs from 18 April – 22 May 2021
For further information please visit https://beerslondon.com/contact/
51 Little Britain
London EC1A 7BH
United Kingdom
Minutes from Barbican, Farringdon & St. Paul’s
T: +44(0)207 502 9078
E: info@beerslondon.com
Tues – Fri: 10 am – 6 pm
Saturday: 11am – 5pm
Sun & Mon: Closed
*Or by appointment
Image, provided by BEERS London
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