Abdulrazaq Awofeso
Out Of Frame
Ikon Gallery
Until August 29th, 2022
Serving as a kind of Sniffing Glue-esque ‘here’s a chord now start a band’ inspiration, Awofeso’s exhibition of constructions made from found wood (lots of pallets) show you how to be a bit of an outsider, how to be poor and still make something impressive.
There’s not a lot of carving, mainly sawing, sticking, painting. Heads and shoulders of characters he has seen in town; full length figures about 20cms high representing Congolese sapeur dandies, all blocky, organic Lego.
And, having one room to itself, loads of tiny, blocky people under mobile clouds, standing there on the floor, waiting for a child to run amok like a vengeful demon.
Hailing from Nigeria, the idea of African ‘difference’ dissipates. It’s a modern country, as corrupt and fucked as any, poorer than here but as aware of the world as anywhere. Is Awofeso featured for his humour, for his energy, rather than for any other worthy reasons? I sort of hope so. It’s a punk-rock thing. Ephemeral, chancy, funny. Worth a look.
