adéWálé Adénlé
Adéwálé (‘Wálé) Adénlé's three-dimensional paintings and drawings, which utilizes the combination of repurposed materials, acrylic, and oil paints, investigate the intersections of cultural, historical, and political contexts. He blurs the boundaries between painting and sculpture to delve into the complexities of dual realities and the logical underpinnings of socio-political cultures and structures. While representation plays a significant role in his work, he incorporates collages, cultural motifs, metaphorical slippages, and dense colors to abstract certain aspects and form new meanings within his paintings and drawings. The visual din and conduit pipes breaking through his pictorial space reflects his personal response to dominant mediums and histories, intending to interrogate conventional ideas and norms. By looking through these pipes, viewers catch glimpses of various conditions and possibilities constrained by historical, systemic, and cultural canons. Interactions and engagements with the layers beneath the surface, inspire intense curiosity as they transform an initial simplified interpretation into deeper and more nuanced readings. This maximalist approach to structure and visual elements clarifies the interplay of multi-layered interpretations and strive to invoke our consciousness of normalized socio-cultural and political constructs.
'Wale has exhibited and lived among many cultures across four continents through his active practice as a painter, author, museum/cultural administrator, socio-political cartoonist, and art editor with various newspapers in Nigeria, the U.K and the U.S. He is the author of “Mixed feelings”, a 15-year celebration/collection of his socio-political satire. Published in 2000, the book was collected by The University of California (Berkeley Library) for selected acquisitions in Africana Studies and catalogued at The Library of Congress, Washington, DC. His most recent public commission includes among others, “Congo Square” a 8ft x 13ft cast bronze sculpture, commissioned by the city of New Orleans and installed in Louis Armstrong Park.