By Henry Akubuiro
Highflying Togolese artist, Tete-Katchan, will be the cynosure of all eyes at the upscale Alexis Galleries located in 282, Akin Olugbade Street, Off Idowu Martins Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, as from tomorrow, Saturday November 12, as he begins his solo exhibition of paintings and woodwork.
Themed “Cuboid”, the exhibition is coiled from Tete’s approach in rendering his forms in geometrical forms, said the curator, Patty Chidiac-Mastrogiannis.
“Tete loves the staggering in defective sizes, yet artistic style only he can achieve or justify. Shapes that are bold, gestural with expressive colours. They reveal the physical, mental, and erratic relationship with their selected audience. His themes vacillate with the humanistic issues of life, “ she said.
Samuel Tete- Katchan is also a friend of the gallery, where he has exhibited in several joint exhibitions and has participated in a residency programme organised by the gallery with other artists of different styles and cultural scripting.
The gallery will be partnering with Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria, a non-governmental and non-profit making organisation dedicated to the proper care and control of sickle cell disorder in Nigeria, by donating part of the exhibition proceeds to its course.
Tete-Katchan was born in 1975 in Togo and currently resides in Accra. He, after his secondary school in 1997, worked at the studio of Mr. Joseph Amedokpo, studying and developing his style from the ‘Oshogbo Art’ from the South West of Nigeria. A year later, he started exhibiting his paintings. He attended the instituto Rural de Arte Hosz del Jucar (Albacete in Spain) in 2007.
A cultural agent, graphic designer and painter, he has deployed art as a medium for social development by working on various art projects having a direct impact on communities.
He carried out several assignments on Public Art Projects in Cape Coast (Ghana), in collaboration with ICOMOS International and students of the University of Virginia (USA).
The ‘Cuboid’ exhibition of Paintings and woodwork, which opens to the public live on Saturday, 13th, November 2021, 3 pm-6 pm, will run till 27th, November 2021, 10 am-6 pm (daily).
Meanwhile, the exhibition’s virtual tour will also be published on the opening day, on the gallery’s social media handles: Instagram- alexisgalleries, Facebook- Thehomestores & Alexisgalleries. The exhibition, “informed the curator, “promises to be intriguing for both virtual and live view.”
The artist told Daily Sun that Nigeria had become his second home, bring a country he visited more often than not and spending several weeks and months each year.
He would be delighted to have children during the exhibition, as he confessed his love for children. He admitted Alexis sold one of his artworks for 6 million naira, and vouched for the integrity of the outfit.
The curator added that the Togolese was one of the few painters who «paint like children», a rare thing to do by many artists. «Artists who paint like children are special.»
The sponsors of the exhibition include PEPSI, TIGER, INDOMIE, MIKANO, THE GUARDIAN, WAZOBIA TV, COOL FM, UPS, HAIER THERMOCOOL, COBRANET, DELTA AIRLINES, AINA BLANKSON, THE HOMESTORES, ART CAFÉ, AND LOST IN A CITY, AMG LOGISTICS and ASHIR DESIGN.