By Lara Sedbon

Opening of the exhibition Au commencement by Midegbeyan Ojisua

“‘In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (…) Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground; he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.’ Like a breath carried from afar across continents, the words of Genesis resonate throughout Midegbeyan Ojisua’s work. In his paintings, the earth—its texture, its flesh-like tones, its materiality—seems to become the sole subject. It is the earth that gives rise to the figure, as though emerging from the fragile remains of a broken chrysalis. Something of the emergence of life reveals itself with striking clarity. Each of Midegbeyan’s paintings evokes a day of creation, witnessing the delicate appearance of a figure as it finds its way through the earth-paint. The constant interplay of opposites, the suspension of space and time, and the atmospheric depth of the light create in the viewer a state of latency—melancholic at times, or simply dreamlike. The reverie takes hold, and the mind begins to wander.

RSVP – pauline@bylarasedbon.com and lara@bylarasedbon.com