Bolaji Alonge’s “Black & White Exclusive Selection for Quintessence” opened on Sunday 23rd June and will be running until Sunday 7th July. The opening was attended by a crowd of Lagos’ finest art lovers, collectors, friends and family and representatives of the diplomatic community and covered by Channels TV. The director of the Goethe Institute, Friederike Moeschel, Alliance Française Director Charles Courdent, I-Design director Tola Akerele, designer Austin Aimankhu, movie director Ema Edosio, Oliver Enwonwu and many others were very enthusiastic about the latest edition of the Eyes of a Lagos Boy. Black and White is still on – don’t miss out on your chance to own a unique, timeless art work that tells our story.
Special thanks to Chief Mrs Aino Ternstedt Oni Okpaku and her amazing team and all those who attended.
“I believe that if black-and-white photography is done correctly, it can convey much more emotion and a deeper meaning than colour ever could. It’s as if by subtracting colour, the viewer is forced to add his own emotion to the images. Colour photography is like a novel that spells everything out in detail, whereas black-and-white photography is like poetry—its strength isn’t in what’s said; it’s in what’s left out.” – Heinrich van den Berg, Award-winning Photographer
Bolaji Alonge is an artist, photographer and actor from Lagos, Nigeria with more than a decade of experience in documenting history, looking for beauty where it is least expected. “Eyes of a Lagos Boy” for Quintessence is an exclusively black and white collection of images, expressing culture with a twist.
Bolaji Alonge’s visual language speaks of the wonders of nature and human exchange and searches for historical continuity in a world that is fractured. He is also a globetrotter who has travelled around the world during the last decade documenting culture. This exclusive mix of black and white, carefully selected images shows Lagos from another angle, a city that inspires and captivates imagination, pulling people into a vortex of energy and constant challenges. Images of everyday life in Nigeria carry deep social messages that expose fragility, audacity but also squalor. Bolaji makes the viewer reconsider what we have seen with our own eyes, through the Eyes of a Lagos Boy, meandering from one story to the next exotic destination.
In May 2017, Bolaji organized his “Eyes of a Lagos Boy” photo exhibition at the prestigious Freedom Park in Lagos. His second solo exhibition “Urban Culture – Historical Continuity” was held at One Draw Gallery, Ikoyi, Lagos in November 2018, establishing Bolaji’s brand of photography to a new audience, receiving great reviews from artists and art lovers worldwide. In February 2019, Bolaji showcased his work at Baza Studio in New York.
Quintessence Ikoyi, Parkview Estate main gate, Off Gerrard Road, Ikoyi. Lagos
Exhibition runs until 7th July
www.awefirm.org // FB: awefirm / Bolaji Alonge // Twitter @Awefirm
http://www.quintessenceltd.com/
