Visual Arts Trajectories: Kolade Oshinowo At 70, a book by no fewer than 30 scholars, academics, critics, proteges and artists in honour of renowned artist, Kolade Oshinowo will be unveiled today at the Yusuf Grillo Auditorium of the School of Art, Design and Printing of the Yaba College of Technology, Lagos alongside an exhibition of portraits of the icon.
It is an academic product of resource persons from different institutions of higher learning from around the world, encapsulating various writings and images of Oshinowo’s art trajectories spanning over 50 years.
The book although has many authors, it was edited by Dr. Kunle Adeyemi of Yabatech and Olusola Ogunfuwa of the University of Lagos. Project Coordinator of the Kolade Oshinowo @70 Planning Committee Adeyemi said: “It is worthy of mention that this is the first time an academic book of this magnitude is coming from the School of Art, Design and Printing of Yabatech, as well as the Nigerian arts landscape”.
The publication is the product of a well subscribed and publicised conference in honour of Dr. Oshinowo at 70 years. This was during Dr. Adeyemi’s tenure as Dean of School of Design and Printing Technology in 2018.
The conference attracted scholars from the university and polytechnic systems, Colleges of Education, and other stakeholders, including Galleries, Art Enthusiasts and Patrons of Art from different parts of the country including Zaria, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Ibadan, Lagos and the Diaspora.
The two-week long 2018 event also featured the Committee For Relevant Art (CORA) Stampede and a portrait show of Kolade Oshinowo featuring emerging and made artists. These portraits will be exhibited today. After a five-year production effort and processes including reviews by assessors, editors, and scholars, the publication, far from being just another coffee table book, is a memorabilia, a scholarly collective and a potential curriculum of art in higher education.
According to the project lead, Dr. Adeyemi, the morphological determinants of the works