At home with Chidi Kwubiri, the master painter
At five years, he had started drawing and painting in his hometown in Umuahia, Abia State. Then, his father did not see anything wrong with the ‘childish act’ until a few years later when he started school and devoted his time and energy to learning the basic principles of perspective, still life and figurative drawings.
It was then the ‘ concerned’ father who wanted him to be a doctor, lawyer or an engineer tried to make him change his choice of career, but he did not compromise his passion for art.
Today, Chidi Kwubiri, a Nigerian German-based visual artist, has no regret for going after his passion. He enjoys a wonderful career with several exhibitions, a barrage of local and foreign collectors after his works and many awards in recognition of his creative ingenuity as well.
You do not need a visit to his studio, a converted historic steel-mill in Cologne, Germany to see his works; his creative ingenuity is obvious with his many works in the hands of rich collectors, reputable organisations and museums across the world.
However, his journey to greatness is intriguing. Recalling when he started painting at age five, the artist who was born and raised in the village, says art was inborn in him as he had no role model growing up, even had to face the wrath of his father, yet he followed his dream against all odds.
Unlike others who would be carried away by their little success, Kwubiri saw the need to attend a formal art school to further hone his craft despite being a successful young artist with many commissioned works and portraits for a lot of dignitaries in Nigeria to his credit.
In his quest to get new impulses about art and creativity, he traveled to Germany to study Fine Arts (Painting) at the Art Academy Dusseldorf with Prof. Michael Buthe and Prof. A.R. Penck (Master of Fine Arts [Meisterschüler]).
Since that very bold move that broadened his worldview and hone his creativity, Kwubiri has had multiple solo exhibitions in Nigeria, USA, Germany, South Africa, France and the Netherlands. Over the years, his works have been shown at the Casablanca Biennale, Morocco, the “Palm Beach Contemporary”, Florida, USA, the UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, Goethe-institut, Dusseldorf, Germany, OPERA Gallery, Paris and at the 50th Anniversary of the Nigerian Independence at the Nigerian Embassy and Deutsche Bank, Berlin, among others.
The master painter believes that an artist is a naturally born adventurer. But while his adventure has taken him to Germany, the artist does not see himself as a foreigner, he is always home to his root in Nigeria to enjoy his village setting and festivals, which are great sources of inspiration for his work.
“My culture and tradition remain my basic source of inspiration because they keep me strong and boost my creative ingenuity”, he explains.
Aside from getting inspiration, his constant visits to Nigeria from his base in Germany is also in recognition of the fact that Nigeria is an important art market for him coupled with a growing number of collectors of his works across the country and West Africa.
One thing he does not fail to do anytime he visits is to engage established and upcoming artists as his contribution to the evolving art scene. “Don’t look at me with probing eyes; I am very active here despite my sojourn abroad. This is my root”, he says.
A visit to his studio in Cologne reveals how much he loves space, while the serenading Nigerian music and African-themed decorations tell visitors more about his root.
The spacious studio has also allowed him to do large format paintings, which is a further boost to his creativity. The self-confessed space freak enjoys doing big formats without any challenge because it enhances his dripping techniques.
The artist, who is a recipient of several art sponsorship awards in 1996, 1997, and 2007, has many exhibitions and creative works to his credit. Some of them include; Mother Tongue, a body of work that has three distinct layers: his celebrated dripping paint technique on large canvases with bald headed figures engulfed in a sea of paint dots. The second visual layer is his paper and wood based “writings on the wall” which are abstract pieces that have carefully concealed mask like faces. The final layer of Mother Tongue showcases Kwubiri’s politically charged conceptual sculptures that are seemingly comical and intriguing, and on closer scrutiny, deliver a provocative expose of society.
Another outstanding exhibition is ‘Wanderlust’, which was about the importance of education and at the same time, its fragility, especially for young girls and women in Africa. For him, “Wanderlust” literarily means the “lust” to wander and education is one of the most reasons why we all “wandered”.
However, with the rate at which medical, law, engineering and other students are abandoning their studies and switching to arts, which was unthinkable few years ago, Kwubiri concludes that the creative wave has hit Nigeria and many are ready to ride along with as the world’s next greatest artist is going to be a Nigerian.