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Contradictions
Ade Adesina, 11 June - 2 July 2022

Contradictions: Ade Adesina

Past exhibition
  • Press Release
  • Exhibition catalogue
  • Artworks
  • News
  • Ade Adesina monumental black and white print, with imagery from Nigeria, representations of current issues such as climate change.
    Artworks

    Press Release

    Ae Adesina | Contradictions

    Sarah Wiseman Gallery is delighted to announce Contradictions’a solo exhibition by the award -winning artist Ade Adesina. In this ambitious exhibition, Ade is set to reveal one of his largest lino-cut prints to date. 

     

    His exhibition Contradictions – defined as set of ideas or statements which are opposed to one another- will investigate a range of themes that often appear in his work, such as climate change, migration, global conflict and politics.

     

    His preferred medium is lino-cut. Each work is an intricate, laboriously made narrative image, the artist carving and cutting into the surface to create a relief surface on which the print is made. Ade likes to work intuitively, rather than planning each work. 

     

    He has said of his process; ‘I work in a very strange way. Every print, sculpture or painting owns a story; it is like reading a novel. There are different characters coming in at different chapters. I don’t find it interesting knowing where a piece of work is going to end before I begin. I can start on the earth and end on the moon. What I enjoy most includes not knowing what direction a piece of work is going.’

     

    Buildings and machinery, even cities, appear in scorched deserts; winged sharks circle above in the sky along with dark suns and strange, ominous weather. Contrasting imagery from different cultures makes for intriguing works, his influences ranging from his native Nigeria to recent travels in Italy, Germany and the Scottish Islands. The 'Tree of Life', the African Baobab tree, is a recurring motif, often standing alone as an emblem of survival, depicted completely surrounded by sprawling human civilisation or in a ruined wasteland. In other works, the tree is at the hands of beetle-like machines, cutting and sawing into it. Visually striking and complex, these works urge the viewer to reflect on the past, the present and the future.

     

    "My work is a visual commentary around the ideas of ecology and our ever-changing world. I am fascinated by how the human footprint is affecting our planet. Our world is full of wonderful landscapes and I wish to highlight the continual damage caused through things such as deforestation, the politics of energy consumption, and endangered wild species."

     

    Ade Adesina was born in Nigeria 1980. He is currently a full-time artist based in Aberdeen, Scotland. He studied printmaking at Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen, and was elected as a Royal Scottish Academician in 2017. He is a member of the Royal Glasgow Institute of The Fine Art, The London Group and Associate Member Royal Society of Painter-printmakers. He has also Artist in Residence at Eton College & Glasgow Print Studio.

     

    Among other accolades, Ade’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, where he received the London Original Print Fair Prize.   

     

  • Exhibition catalogue

  • Artworks
    • Ade Adesina linocut in black and white showing a myriad of imagery, including a central hooded figure in a gas mask,
      Ade Adesina, A l'Aube (Sunrise)
    • Ade Adesina black and white print of flowers inside a glass cloche, an insect on the outside, by Ade Adesina
      Ade Adesina, Bubble Sold
    • Ade Adesina large black and white print of a rose inside a glass cloche, fallen petals at the bottom and bees buzzing around it on the outside, by Ade Adesina
      Ade Adesina, Conditional Love
    • Ade Adesina monumental black and white print, with imagery from Nigeria, representations of current issues such as climate change.
      Ade Adesina, Contradictions
    • Ade Adesina large print in black and white with pandas seated in the foreground with seedlings in pots at the front.
      Ade Adesina, Cradle Sold
    • Ade Adesina print in black and white showing the ruin of a church, a broken bell in the foreground. In the distance, a town with spires seen above.
      Ade Adesina, Definition
    • Ade Adesina small black and white print showing a few objects: a lamp, bound book, shell, peacock feather and a road sign.
      Ade Adesina, Deja Vu I
    • Ade Adesina small print in black and white of a few objects: a sunflower, hour glass, shell, key, oil lamp and road signs
      Ade Adesina, Deja Vu II
    • Ade Adesina complex print in black and white showing a myriad of road signs among large fish, sea horse and jelly fish.
      Ade Adesina, Everyway but Forward
    • Ade Adesina print in black and white with central imagery of flowering small tree in pot decorated with white shells. Also seen are an oil lamp and cowrie shells.
      Ade Adesina, Hush Sold
    • Ade Adesina small print in black and white of a sunflower, on top of which is a robot like bee.
      Ade Adesina, Mechanic
    • Ade Adesina black and white print of a tree standing in a dry landscape, an industrial structure attached to its trunk, stranded boats in the foreground and baoabab trees seen in the distance.
      Ade Adesina, Miles
    • Ade Adesina print in black and white of a beetle by a flowers arranged in a round shape, birds circling around it.
      Ade Adesina, New Leaf Sold
    • Ade Adesina black and white print showing a face-like structure of clocks, planets, winged seahorses drinking nectar from saxophones like colibri.
      Ade Adesina, Parallel
    • Black and white print by Ade Adesina of a forest of baobab trees, trucks on a road cutting through the vegetation and vultures in the foreground.
      Ade Adesina, Road to Riches
    • Ade Adesina small print in black and white of a small, flowering tree stranding in scorched, dry ground, its trunk shaped like a heart,
      Ade Adesina, Soul
    • Ade Adesina black and white print of a gramophone placed in a desert landscape with hibiscus flowers growing out of it, with humming birds and clocks.
      Ade Adesina, Tic Toc
    • Ade Adesina black and white print showing imagery such as double bells, cowrie shells and an oil lamp.
      Ade Adesina, Town Crier
    • Ade Adesina large print in black and white of a gigantic hourglass, children playing on a beach at the top and a similar scene at the bottom but filled with rubbish.
      Ade Adesina, Trickle
    • Ade Adesina circular print in black and white of a central image of an emu standing in a room with different road signs covering the walls.
      Ade Adesina, Twenty Twenty Sold
    • Ade Adesina black and white print of a town showing the rooftops of lots of houses and a castle up a hill above them.
      Ade Adesina, Whitby Translated
  • News
    • Ade Adesina at the Royal Academy

      Ade Adesina at the Royal Academy

      'Parallel' on show in the print room curated by Grayson Perry RA June 20, 2022
      Printmaker Ade Adesina's print 'Parallell' has been selected for exhibition at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2022.
      Read more
    • Ade Adesina RSA ‘Contradictions’ now on!

      Ade Adesina RSA ‘Contradictions’ now on!

      His solo show continues until 2nd July June 20, 2022
      Recent work by acclaimed printmaker Ade Adesina on show in his solo exhibition 'Contradictions' at Sarah Wiseman Gallery, Oxford.
      Read more
    • Studio visits in Scotland

      Studio visits in Scotland

      Catherine Rayner and Ade Adesina April 6, 2022
      In anticipation of solo exhibitions coming up at the gallery, gallery director Sarah Wiseman visited the studios of Catherine Rayner and Ade Adesina in Scotland.
      Read more
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