Uthman Wahab

Donated by the artist

"CCA has always been a supporting art institution to the local artists in Lagos and in the diaspora. In 2011, a year after my graduation from college in Lagos, I was selected to participate in a two week Art Critic Clinic workshop at the CCA. The outcome of this workshop was that I sharpened the tools for my artistic growth, many of which I still reflect on in my process. Aside having personal relationship with its founder Bisi Silva and one of the beneficiaries of the centre, supporting the CCA is my little gesture in contributing to the art community in Nigeria and, most importantly, to see CCA stand to continue its legacy a supporting institution to artists around the world."

"In the wake of post-colonialism and the 'Black Identity Crisis', my portrayal of bodies becomes an instrument of analysis and reflection. In the Victorian Lagos series, I explore the Victorian era of the 19th century and how this period in British history sowed the seed of crisis that manifests globally in the present day. Victorian Lagos illustrates the struggles and desire of the Nigerian middle class to become 'modern and civilized', while simultaneously being trapped in their assigned identity as defined by Western standards. The fact that middle-class Nigerians cannot see themselves as “modern and civilized” without the Western narrative demonstrate the lingering effects of imperialism on contemporary notions of progress and beauty."