Jimoh Buraimoh (Nigerian, born 1943)
Phases, 1972
Signed ‘buraimoh 1972’ (lower left)
Acrylic on canvas
79.4 x 76.8 cm
Ksh 190,000–250,000
(US$ 1,750–2,250)
Sold Ksh 193,710
Provenance: on loan from the artist to Alan Donovan (founder of African Heritage)
Inspired by the Yoruba tradition of incorporating beadwork designs into ceremonial fabrics and crowns, Chief Jimoh Buraimoh’s influential paintings have taken many forms. He was one of the first attendees of Georgina Beier’s Oshogbo Workshop where he began his innovative practice which incorporated the technique of bead painting and mosaic murals – leading him to be the first Nigerian to be awarded a membership to the Contemporary World Association of Mosaic Artists in 1983. He completed his first degree, in Sculpture, from the Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria in 1974. As well as a pioneering artist, Buraimoh is a traditional ruler; the Baale of Gdodofan.
His works were first exhibited at the Goethe Institute in Lagos in 1965 and have continued to be shown around the world in significant international surveys including Contemporary African Art, Museum of Art, Washington DC, 1974; A Concrete Vision: Oshogbo Art in the 1960s, Smithsonian Museum of African Art, Washington DC, 2000, and Visions of Yoruba, a two-person show at October Gallery, London, 2002. He has also had solo shows in the UK, the USA and Germany. In 1972, Buraimoh represented Nigeria in the First All African Trade Fair in Kenya.
This painting, from early on in Buraimoh’s career, is rich with the complexities and rhythm that characterizes his work across media; using harmonious colour to pull elements and forces together on the picture plane.