Young Oniudele Gold is the art graduate who recently painted
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode in 8 brief minutes. In this interview with Medinat
Kanabe, he speaks on his love for art, his battle to hold out even against his
parents’ wish and desire from the governor.
The occasion was the last Children’s Day and venue was The
Lagos House and the graduate of Yaba College of Technology seized the
opportunity to do a speed painting of the governor.
Recalled Gold: “He was seated on the high table while I
painted him. I was with the dance group, Footprint of David; and whilst they
performed within the 15-minute time-frame they were given, I did the painting
and finished right on time.
“Whilst I painted, people in the audience thought I was
drawing rubbish but when I finished, they were all wowed and couldn’t hide
their surprise”
Asked how he was able to draw the portrait under such
limited time, he said “Before the day of the event, I had studied his picture
very well, so I had every image of him I needed to do the painting in my head.”
Seeing the great job he had done within such limited time,
the governor stood up to acknowledge his effort and even offered him a
handshake, which Gold says he still feels right up to the moment of this
interview. However, Gold said he wished the governor would do more to support
him because he is at that point when he desperately needs that lift.
On why he chose to paint the governor, Gold said he is a
great admirer and supporter of the governor, more because of the great work he
is doing across the state. He said, “I have done many others like the photo of
Jesus, the photo of Pastor Adebayo of the Redeemed Christian Church of God but
what inspired me to do that painting is what the governor is doing in Lagos
state and that’s why I wrote Ambode Lekansi on it.
“He is making a lot of sense. Personally, I think he has
done very well and the art piece was for me to appreciate him and let him know
that I support him for second term in office.”
Right after graduating from YABATECH in 2017, Gold said the
first painting he did was a rather risky one. Which he did “standing on a
floater on the Lagos Lagoon, right under the 3rd Mainland Bridge.”
“Many people thought I was going on a suicide mission but I
did it. That painting drew the attention of many good artists, so when I was
going to do the second major painting, about seven other artists joined me. It
was at Makoko and I titled it plein air 001 done on a boat.”
Asked how he honed his talent, Gold said, “I started
painting at about 5 years old. I would get pictures and try to replicate them;
they used to look very horrible then but I kept on trying and now I am here,
almost perfect. When I got to school, I became very popular. In primary school
and even in secondary, I would draw take home work for my classmates; at a
point I started representing my school in fine arts competitions.
“In SSS 11, I began to find it difficult to cope with class
activities. Most of the time when lectures were going on, I would be drawing.
It was as if I had made up my mind not do to any other thing but draw.
“When results came out I did poorly; this prompted my
teacher to advice me to go to a technical college. Everyone around me,
including my parents gave up on me after that and concluded that it was the end
for me.
“I went to technical college and studied technical arts.
Before long, I became one of the best students and even became one of the best
three in the whole school.”
Initially, he said his parents were not supportive of his
romance with arts, but changed, when they saw his zeal and passion.
“Immediately after graduating, I did my first solo
exhibition where I exhibited about 30 paintings; by this time, my parents had
become very proud of me.”He said.
Expressing his thought on arts, Gold said, “I tell my
students that art is life because everything you do in life is connected to art
one way or the other. The cloth we put on is art; even the food we eat. For
example, you have a plate of white rice and a plate of red stew; when you mix
the rice and the stew together what you get is pink.”
Gold however condemned the Nigerian apathy to arts,
lamenting how during his first solo exhibition, he “spent almost all his saving
but at the end of the day he didn’t sell any painting.
Recalling another down moment, he said “I was invited for an
exhibition in Lekki and as I transported my works, which were on the roof of
the bus, it rained and some of the paintings began to peel off. To make matters
worse, it didn’t rain in Lekki and I felt so embarrassed. Of course, I didn’t
sell anything on the occasion.”
first published inn The Nation of June 16, 2018
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