25 years later: Kunle Adeyemi still dispatching

It was a carnival galore and harvest of cultural dispatches at Quintessence Arts Gallery, Ikoyi when Kunle Adeyemi in a solo art exhibition titled “Kunle Adeyemi: Dispatches from my Art”

celelebrated his 50th birthday and 25th Anniversary since graduation from the prestigious Yaba School of Printing and Graphic Arts. Mr. Adeyemi’s exhibits are deeply rooted in the tradition, especially the traditions of the Yoruba people while his combination of abstract and realism genuinely brings out the beauty of his works and a time, makes the work interestingly complex. Enjoy this brief and short interview with Prince Kunle Adeyemi. Exerpt:

25 years of dispatches, how’s the journey so far?

The journey has been very rough but thank God for the success.

Can we now say you’re a fulfilled artist?

Yes, judged by all standards. It could be better. I don’t have any regret because I enjoy all that I’m doing. I try as much as I can to preach to the young ones so that they can imbibe the culture of hard work, the culture of success to a product, and the culture of great dexterity.

Your collections are all rooted in the African traditions, what do you do to integrate the contemporary youths who seem to be a bit distant from their culture?

That’s one of the reasons why this exhibition is organized. I’m using this platform to announce to the youth that we have origin and that we’re coming from somewhere. We can’t negate this. I remind them that we have a source.

Some artists find it difficult to part with certain works of theirs; do you have such kind of works?

Yes, there are some works I don’t want to part with. But I still feel I have to express myself. When you have such pieces government should come secretly and buy them from you because these are rare cases. Unfortunately our government does not appreciate art works the manner those in abroad do. These are some of the problems we’re encountering.

What advice do you have for the younger artists?

They should work hard and be sincere to themselves. Becoming great is a process, there’s no short-cut to success. I believe that when you work hard and with God on your side you’ll get to an enviable height.

Thank you for your time and happy birthday.

You're welcome. Thanks for your time too.