Author: birminghamreview

Writer Harry Croxford / Photographer Jessica Whitty

Abdulrazaq Awofeso is a Nigerian artist and sculptor. He utilises the potential of a seemingly innocuous form of object intimately tied to globalised trade: the pallet. More precisely, he uses the scavenged wood from pallets, lathered in striking and saturated hues of acrylic paint, as his medium.

Awofeso’s work situates itself within a nexus of themes: the migration of capital and its waste by-products, the comparatively restricted migration of peoples, and the community identities behind such processes of global circulation.

His approach is restitutive, additive – pallets are broken apart into fragments, then sawn, sanded, reshaped. This deconstruction that leads to construction is a feature of Awofeso’s work, and it foregrounds the relationship between communities and material.

In Awofeso’s art, identity emerges in sanded, painted, figurations reminding us of the human behind the often-abstract processes of exchange, logistics, transport, and so on.

And Awofeso’s work itself is, likewise, global. Prior to his move to Birmingham, Awofeso exhibited at the Dakar Biennale (2016), STEVENSON Cape Town (2016), and, more recently, Museum Arnhem (2020), among others.

He now brings his work to Ikon. As part of their Arrivals programme, running between 10 June and 29 August, Awofeso’s solo exhibition OUT OF FRAME is spread across the familiar second floor of the gallery and unifies thematic strands concerning global waste, communities, and identities.

In the piece, ‘Komole (Bridal Train)’ which is painted on scrap wood, four figures emerge from a background of wooden planks.

Staples visibly stitch these boards together, serving as the background to four figures, emotive and joyous. These sutured boards are painted over in vivid display. Awofeso manages to capture a dynamism through this playful collation of hue and flowing form, informed by his incessant curiosity about others.

This curiosity is most tangible in the works ‘Komole’ shares a space with: ‘Do You Know Who I Am’. Question or statement? The work’s title prompts us to consider the thirty-one portraits, and the identities of those depicted that scatter the walls.

The viewer is met with a selection of many-coloured portraits, richly saturated colours – ochres, deep reds, violets – line the rest of the gallery in variegating fashion. Still acrylic paint, still on pallet wood. However, no longer are the boards themselves visible. The staples are still there across these many faces, but the wood is shaped and smooth.

These portraits are individual, characterful, and they originate from Awofeso’s past interactions during his return from Lagos to Birmingham in 2021. On this trip he, and his fellow passengers, were held in Amsterdam following the UK bans on arrivals from Nigeria due to Covid-19.

He restores identity and character to the government’s reduction of these individuals to statistics, mere potential risks. As the title of the exhibition indicates, Awofeso’s artistic gaze is on that which is considered ‘out of frame’.

Each figure is therefore, importantly, named. One ‘Headmistress’ smirks at the viewer, her teal goggles and shirt complementing the vivid yellow of her complexion. Another, ‘Blinder’, who dons an ochre suit stares out from beneath his flatcap – a figure those from Birmingham are sure to recognise.

And ‘Robert the Optimist’, his two-shade shirt recalling that of the La Sape’s noted by Awofeso as a cultural influence. He looks out contentedly, embodying his cognomen.

I suspect, here, that the most powerful thematic counterpoints arise when viewing Awofeso’s portraits. Once aware of the material, the pallet wood, and the background to these portraits – one can’t help but contrast the differing forms of migration here.

Our experience of goods on shop shelves is, often, like manna shorn from their origins, the many borders crossed, actors involved, and the circumstances of production are overlooked, they are almost miraculous. In this apparent instantaneity of the imported goods, it is all too easy to forget this complex supply chain and, consequently, of the identities and faces involved.

It is here Awofeso’s work explicitly conveys this undercurrent, juxtaposing that of a free and cross-border migration of goods and capital, with that of the border restrictions nation states place on the migration of peoples.

It is notable that one portrait dons a face mask, a reminder perhaps of another consequence of globalisation.

Vibrant colours reflect vibrancy of character. In ‘Skhothane’, for example, drawn from Awofeso’s appreciation of Skhothane subculture, we find plentiful figures on plinths. Again, vibrant colour captures the bashful jubilancy of these characters. Skhothane emerged in post-Apartheid South Africa, where groups of youths destroy valuable material commodities in extravagant dance battles – destruction, turning commodity to waste via performance art, therefore becomes fundamental for affirming the status and identities of these groups involved.

Finally, to one of Awofeso’s most iconic pieces exhibited here: ‘Avalanche of Calm’ – the culmination of this exhibition. The viewer finally arrives at an expansive scattering of miniature figures under the lush blue of the clouds above. Three thousand figures occupy this space, each constructed from this self-same wood; here behind material we have crowds.

From portraiture, to figural forms, to the mass crowd of these anonymised figures – OUT OF FRAME is a vivacious meditation on globalisation. It is concurrent waste products and artistic reappropriation on the faces, place, and cultures behind the abstract flows of global markets.

Awofeso’s OUT OF FRAME is on at Ikon until the 29 August and is free to attend. For more information visit: www.ikon-gallery.org/exhibition/abdulrazaq-awofeso

Visit full details of all Ikon’s exhibitions and events visit: https://www.ikon-gallery.org

Writer Jasmine Khan / Photographer Daisy Richardson

Speaking to Jamahl (Jam) Augustine in one of those healthy, overpriced cafés on a side road just off Pigeon Park, I’m curious to find out about his experiences of playing the Birmingham music scene and how they’ve changed since Jamahl started working as a musician.

“First stepping-out and being 18 and playing venues it was like… I’m the youngest here,” explains Jamahl, “In terms of now, you see more familiar faces and get to know the environment. Just getting to know people as well – locals and people I used to gig with back then.”

He adds: “It’s nice to feel that sense of development that’s come from the past five years. I’m no longer a timid 18-year-old.”

I quickly do the maths and realise Jamahl is only 23 which surprises me. There’s a clear maturity in the way he handles himself and the way he speaks – maybe it’s because Jamahl’s been at work since he was 18 rather than getting pissed-up in student digs.

What’s more, half a decade of playing professionally has given Jamahl some insights into how Brum’s music scene develops.

“It used to be that you could easily go around for a few years and not get to know someone who’s been on the same circuit. Now, everyone’s more integrated in terms of working together, even if it’s just about being at the same jam nights.’

“There’s a lot more new collaborations, not necessarily just myself, but people are out and about and it’s led to a better development of the music scene as well – because everyone’s chipping in and doing their bit.”

Jamahl takes some time to shout out people on the scene he’s personally enjoyed collaborating with like Call Me Unique, Czafari, and Lucien Moon where Jamahl plays mostly RnB, hip-hop, soul and occasionally pop. He says, “It’s the most fun to play on bass, music that’s always rhythmical or harmonically moving. There’s lots of free reign.”

Jamahl has been playing bass for a total of 10 years (five years professionally), but he also plays the guitar and picked-up production over various past lockdowns.

He explains, “they bring out different sides of each other so to speak. If I’m thinking of an idea on bass first, then I might add guitar to it, and then be like ‘oh I like this guitar part’ so I can improve the bass part.

“It’s nice to have those different creative outlets – switching up brings more opportunities as well.”

As our conversation begins to come to a close, Jamahl and I discuss working in the creative industry more abstractly. “We all have human needs in terms of how we need to look after ourselves,” remarks Jamahl, talking about the way in which musicians and other creatives care for their mental health.

“A lot of people I know personally struggle in the creative industry, they don’t have a reference point to how they should be feeling because everyone’s about the grind. But you can’t put in as much work if you’re not looking after yourself.”

I couldn’t agree more, hustle culture without respect for rest results in burnout.

Jamahl continues, “I think if people had a bit more stability in terms of having somewhere to go to work good habits into their life, and look after themselves a bit more, it’s only going to be better for the industry as well.

“People will put out better music, and be in better places to work. We need to improve the foundations that we’re building on.”

For more from Jamahl (Jam) Augustine check out: www.soundbetter.com/profiles/268604-jamahl-augustine