| In 1964, Adebisi Fabunmi joined the now famous workshop at Mbari Mbayo with Twins Seven Seven, Muraina Oyelami, and Jimoh Buraimoh and became one of the founding artists of the Oshogbo group. | |
 Fabunmi in 1970 |
He had no intention of becoming an artist nor any clear idea of what it entailed, but he recalls being seized by a kind of fever and producing three or four paintings every day for weeks on end. When the work was exhibited and some actually sold, Fabunmi was confirmed in his new career. In the 36 years since, he has done no other work. |
| FAB, as he likes to be known, is the only one of the original Oshogbo artists who is not a native Nigerian. He was born in Takoradi, Ghana in 1944, to a Yoruba-speaking family. His family seat is the twin towns of Okemesi and Imesi-Ile in the idyllically beautiful hills 25 miles northwest of Oshogbo. | |
 View of Imesi |
 FAB and his senior brother Oba Adepekun Fabunmi III |
| Fabunmi has drawn inspiration for his work from his memories of the the jumble of adobe walls and rooftops against the slopes of Imesi. The houses have become a characteristic theme in his work appearing in every conceivable context, always recalling his origins. |  |
 Egungun Eleiye, ca.1970 woodcut |
| FAB's initial success as an artist was built on his masterful woodcuts. In his black and white prints, he developed the strong sense of composition that characterizes all of his work. | |
 Magician, ca.1966 embroidery |
The Oshogbo artists show great inventiveness in their use of materials and Fabunmi is one of the most versatile and imaginative in this respect. One day he observed his wife embroidering a pillowslip and saw possibilities in needle work. He experimented with embroidered wall hangings and they proved to be popular with his collectors. He liked working with cloth but he wanted to expand the possibilities of needle work. When another artist, Isaac Ojo, took up embroidery, FAB left it to him. He gave up working altogether for a time and began looking for new ideas. |
| On a trip to Kano in the North, FAB saw a woman stitching wool yarn to a shirt to form a sort of appliquéd decoration common to the area. The image stuck with him and he determined to pursue it. On his return home, he bought an assortment of woolen yarns and set to work. He wanted to adhere the yarn to a surface in a solid pattern so he could achieve the dense color that eluded him in his embroidery. During weeks of experimentation, he developed a unique tapestry technique he calls "wool painting". | |
 Slaves Going to the New World, ca.1968 wool painting | |
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FAB creates his wool paintings by laboriously gluing the individual strands of yarn to canvas. The direction of the strands creates a movement which gives his pictures a unique dynamism. He alternates the colors of the strands to create patterns and colors which he says are inspired by traditional Yoruba strip woven cloth (aso oke). The colors he chooses are striking and individual but not always easy. He draws ideas from nature - exotic tropical insects, birds and flowers. He likes colors he calls "sour" i.e. a little off true, a bit faded or acid. His combinations are often startling and unusual but always distinctive.
In her excellent book New Currents, Ancient Rivers, Jean Kennedy says Fabunmi was inspired to his tapestry technique by the work of the Huichol Indians of Mexico (p.72) and this story was repeated in the Smithsonian exhibition, A Concrete Vision, Oshogbo Art in the 1960's, but I know it to be erroneous. In the early '70's when Fabunmi's "wool painting" technique was already well estabished, I showed him a book, The Art of the Huichol Indians, and he was quite astounded to learn of their work. I published the above account in a 1980 article, "FAB Art" in Black Art magazine. I wish only to correct the record here. The Smithsonian has been informed, and they intend to change the information in their exhibition. | |
 FAB at his studio in Ikeja, 1976 | |
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In the mid 1970's, FAB acquired a generous patron in the manager of the Lagos Airport Hotel. The original Ikeja Arms dating from the 1920's still survived on the extensive grounds of the modern establishment. The building was empty and in disrepair. FAB was given the use of the entire upper storey as a studio and gallery space in the new hotel. Far in advance of the long awaited Second World Festival of Black and African Arts and Culture in Lagos (FESTAC), FAB booked an exhibition with the Goethe Institute to coincide with the event. During his time at the Airport Hotel, he prepared for the show. He chose to use the opportunity to concentrate on oil painting and truly mastered the medium. He devised a painstaking technique of splattering color to build up complex, delicately modelled textures. Then the final postponement of FESTAC deprived him of the international audience he had hoped for. Nevertheless the paintings were exhibited on schedual at a one man show at the Goethe Institute in Lagos in November, 1976. The exhibition gave ample evidence of his mastery of of oil painting, and very nearly sold out. | |
 FAB's one-man show at Goethe Institute, Lagos, 1976 |
 FAB at his one-man show, Lagos, 1976 |
To learn more about Adebisi Fabunmi and the beginnings of the Oshogbo movement, visit the Smithsonian website "A Concrete Vision, Oshogbo in the 1960's". You can go to the section on "the artists" for a brief essay on his work. Come back here next month for a look at FAB's 1976 groundbreaking exhibition of paintings at the Goethe Institute in Lagos.
or go back to the blackartstudio.com homepage. | |