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Courtesy of the artist, GAS Foundation and Tiwani Contemporary. Video by Yinka Babalola.
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Gideon Gomo's residency at GAS's space in Lekki took place between November and December 2023. In the video, the artist is seen at work for the exhibition "I See You", shown at Tiwani Contemporary Lagos from 4 November 2022 until 14 January 2023
Gideon Gomo’s stoneworks are contemporary inflections of Zimbabwean springstone carving, a cornerstone of modern art in that region. Bringing this technique into conversation with contemporary modes of making, Gomo combines this granite with other materials such as brass cymbals, appropriated as headgear, halos or adornment.
Each head is emotive, a contrast with the relatively inanimate Shona stone carvings earlier referenced. Gomo began these sculptures in Harare, and completed them in Lagos, also while an artist-in-residence at G.A.S. Foundation. During this period, he also worked with mahogany and cedar wood sourced from Makoko in Lagos. With these large trunks, Gomo used a chainsaw to transform these heads that connect aesthetically to figural forms that also allude to Zimbabwean stone carving. The subject matters he explores through these wooden heads range from bleaching among men in Lagos, gender obscurity, and emotional burdens that he personally bears when compared to his ancestors. The latter is suggested by the incorporation of hata-referred to as ‘headrest’ or osuka in Lagos. These torus, tire- like shapes, are made with fabric or plant fibers, and are used across the continent to ease the burden of carrying a heavy load on one’s head. -
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Gideon Gomo
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