Famous Umobuarie: Nigerian visual artist on creating contemporary realism

By Pauline Odhiambo

Looking at Famous Umobuarie's paintings, one thing stands out – a yellow halo around his subjects. It is the common thread tying nearly all his artworks together, brightening his pieces and marking his signature style.

"The halo represents purity, but it is also a reminder that no one is perfect, and that we don't have the right to judge anyone," Umobuarie tells TRT Afrika.

Other distinctive markers of the Nigerian artist's style include paint splashes on canvas, as well as a 'drip-effect' flowing from the tops of his contemporary realism paintings.

According to WikiArt, contemporary realism refers to figurative artworks created in a natural yet highly objective style. The style encompasses all post-1970 sculptors and painters whose discipline is representational art, and whose objective is to portray the "real" rather than the "ideal".

Dreams and aspirations

Umobuarie uses different mediums for his art, including acrylic paint, pastels and ballpoint pen.

Several of his artworks feature child subjects either looking directly at the viewer or staring up into the sky.

His painting "Floating Aspirations" shows a young boy holding on to balloons.

"The balloons represent our dreams. If we don't hold on to them, they can fly off and disappear into the distance," states the 25-year-old artist. "I know many people who wanted to be doctors or engineers when they were children, but that didn't happen because they didn't hold on tightly to their aspirations. They didn't hold on to their dreams."

Activism art

In his other painting, titled "The Boy Whose Destiny Was Severed From Him", Umobuarie tackles the issue of child neglect.

"This painting is based on the real-life story of a boy who died in a boarding school. He was being bullied, but it went unnoticed and unaddressed by his teachers and parents," the artist states.

Similarly, his painting "Baboonocrazy" addresses the abuse of power by people in senior positions.

"People in authority can sometimes misuse their power and abuse those they are supposed to be protecting. I created the initial version of this painting in 2020 during the End Sars protests in Nigeria against police brutality," Umobuarie explains.

‘Brotherhood’

The young artist, based in Nigeria's Benin City, later transformed this artwork, and many others, into non-fungible tokens (NFTs) available on online platforms.

NFTs include digital drawings, paintings, music, film, poetry or books, which allow artists to sell or rent their artwork beyond the physical world.

Among Umobuarie's most popular NFTs is one titled "Brotherhood" – up to 200 pieces of this painting were sold within 30 minutes of its release.

"This piece is based on how twins are highly regarded in many societies. Mothers of twins are often held in high esteem and praised for their apparent fertility," states Umobuarie, who also has siblings who are twins. "The red background of the painting shows the deep bonds unique to twin brotherhood."

Several of his paintings have been showcased in both local and international platforms, with some of his artworks snapped up by collectors at admirable costs.

Music muse

Like many artists, Umobuarie is often inspired by music.

His painting, titled "1975 IV", is a hyperrealistic self-portrait done in ballpoint pen, and inspired by the tunes of Nigerian musician Fela Kuti.

"In one of his lyrics, Fela says, 'water calms a hot head.' That line stuck with me and inspired me to create a portrait showing water dripping over my face," Umobuarie says of the artwork named after the year that particular song by Fela was released.

"On a deeper level, the lyrics discuss how water can be healing in many aspects, and the artwork I did is like a portrayal of deeper meaning."

‘Nature's Gift’

Yet another of his paintings with deeper meaning is one titled "Nature's Gift", where a man is seen contentedly eating an array of brightly coloured fruit.

To hone his natural talent in the arts, Umobuarie studied Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Benin in Nigeria, where he majored in Graphics and Communication Design.

His advice to aspiring artists? "Believe in your God-given talent and be consistent in creating every day," he concludes.

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