Rethinking Onobrakpeya 2 : The Sophistication of Bruce Onobrakpeya's Art
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Oluwatoyin Adepoju
Jun 12, 2025, 10:01:21 PMJun 12
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Rethinking Onobrakpeya 2
The Sophistication of Bruce
Onobrakpeya's Art
Image of Bruce Onobrakpeya at Divination Stool in Akporode
This mage by myself shows Onobrakpeya seated in front of his installation titled "Akporode" in the Onobrak Arts Centre Galleries in Agbarha-Otor, demonstrating his inspiration for the horsetail fly whisk place on the divination tray at the centre of the installation.
"Akporode" is an Urhobo word which may be rendered as " the vast and mysterious universe" .
Onobrakpeya describes the installation as a prayer for divine guidance towards achieving divine greatness.
The pillars evoke the traditional Urhobo use of pillars and elevated pieces of wood in symbolizing aspiration towards Oghene, the creator of the universe as understood in Urhobo thought.
Onobrakpeya's work is one of the greatest dramatizations of the power of African spiritualities to illuminate the universe, a creative force the artist galvanizes beyond explicit affiliation with any of those spiritualities.
"Akporode" is an Urhobo word which may be rendered as " the vast and mysterious universe" .
Onobrakpeya describes the installation as a prayer for divine guidance towards achieving divine greatness.
The pillars evoke the traditional Urhobo use of pillars and elevated pieces of wood in symbolizing aspiration towards Oghene, the creator of the universe as understood in Urhobo thought.
Onobrakpeya's work is one of the greatest dramatizations of the power of African spiritualities to illuminate the universe, a creative force the artist galvanizes beyond explicit affiliation with any of those spiritualities.
Escalating Onobrakpeya Scholarship to a Higher Level
I'm so struck by all who showed support for my post on the need to escalate scholarship on the art and life of the Nigerian artist Bruce Onobrakpeya.
A lot of work has been done on his art and some on his life. What has been achieved so far constitutes the foundations of what is needed to fully engage the artist's work and life, foundations to be built upon to reach higher levels of Onobrakpeya scholarship.
Why so?
Range of Reference
Onobrakpeya is a pre-eminent artist of African spiritual and philosophical systems.
His work draws upon Urhobo, Benin (Edo), Yoruba, Fulani, Akan and perhaps other African spiritual cultures and their expressive forms, reworking them in his own unique way.
He also draws upon modern technology, such as spark plugs,motor spare parts and electronic circuits in creating his constructions of the sacred within secular contexts.
I describe his best work that way beceause he is not working in a religious context but his work draws from spiritual cultures and has great spiritual significance.
Multi-Cultural
To adequately engage Onobrakpeya, one needs a grounding in Urhobo, Benin(Edo), Yoruba, Fulani and Akan and perhaps other African peoples' philosophies, spiritualities and their arts as well as a sensitivity to the philosophical possibilities of technology and science.
Urhobo
Without a significant grasp of Urhobo philosophies and spiritualities and associated visual and verbal arts, a lot of Onobrakpeya's work is deprived of half of its meaning for a viewer because Urhobo spiritual and philosophical cultures and their visual and verbal correlates are foundational to his work.
Yoruba
Its also critical to understand Yoruba spiritualities, philosophies and associated verbal and visual arts to guide appreciation of his use of these forms, such as his deployment of edan ogboni, a central sculptural symbol and instrument of the Yoruba origin Ogboni esoteric order and his recurrent adaptation of the motif of the opon Ifa, the divination tray and cosmological symbol of the Yoruba expression of the Ifa knowledge and divination system.
Benin/Edo
Onobrakpeya has also masterfully deployed traditions of Benin art in his installations and etchings, developing in his own way the projection of majesty which Benin art relating to the Oba and his court realizes so masterfully.
Akan
Onobrakpeya's art also reflects the influence of Adinkra, an artistic philosophical symbolism from.the Akan and Gyaman of Ghana.
Fulani
He is wonderful in his artistic exploration of the intersection of Fulani spiritual and artistic cultures, from.the mystique of cattle, central to Fulani cosmology and spirituality, to amulets, instruments for concentrating spiritual power, to clothing as a means of projecting the magical and the mysterious.
Christian
Onobrakpeya is also a magnificent Christian artist, uniquely reworking strategic aspects of Biblical narrative and theology in projecting an African centred imagination, yet one that resonates universally in exploring the mystery and power of the sacred in transforming reality.
A knowledge of the Bible, particularly the New Testament, is indispensable to adequately engaging his visualizations of Biblical narratives and characters, such as Jesus and Paul.
Ideally,one also needs a background in global traditions of Christian art, to understand the scope of Onobrakpeya's originality in engaging with such universal themes of Christian art as the Wedding at Canaan, the Last Supper, the Sermon on the Mount and the life and theology of St. Paul.
Need for Biographical Elaborations
A lot has been written on Onobrakpeya's life by himself and others but collectively what has been provided are broad brush strokes or basic details.
I'm not aware of any in depth study of his development in relation to his art in the context of his life's journey across various locations beginning from his natal community Agbarha in the Niger Delta, to Ughelli, Sapele, Benin and Lagos, and more, interacting with the material environments and human contexts evoking those he passed through and those he still inhabits.
Research Imperatives
To achieve all this, fresh avenues of research must be opened up while developing a thorough grounding in what has already been achieved in Onobrakpeya's scholarship so as to build on those foundations.
There is also a need for a collectively developed database of primary sources - his art and studies of his art- and secondary sources- studies relevant to his art but not dealing with it.
That is my current journey.
Spiritual and Philosophical Power
Why am I inspired by Onobrakpeya?
I am a seeker of knowledge as to how people make sense of existence.
Along those lines, I am studying and practicing various spiritualities and philosophies across the world and verbal and visual art across Africa, Asia and the West as well as the history and philosophy of science and writing on a significant number of these interests.
My interest in Onobrakpeya's life and work derives from this quest.
I understand him as a pre-eminent demonstrator of the contemporary and timeless significance of African spiritualities and philosophies, his unique reworking of these inspirations dramatizing their creative mobility across cultural, temporal and geograhical contexts.
Between Michelangelo and Onobrakpeya
Michelangelo
I see his work as comparable in scope of reference and inventive dynamism to that of the Italian sculptor, painter, architect and poet Michelangelo Buonarotti but excelling beyond Michelangelo in his scope of reworking of the traditional contexts he builds upon.
Michelangelo is an ultimate visualizer of the human form, particularly the male body, in awesome sculpture and majestic painting, his depictions of strategic aspects of the Christian story achieving iconicity across the centuries.
In terms of visual inventiveness, however, he did better than others what everyone else was doing during the Italian Renaissance, his historical and cultural period.
His "David", his " Pieta", sculpture of Mary holding Jesus after his crucifixion, his "Moses" depicting the Hebrew leader in terms of a unique animation of inward force and other wonderful pieces at the tomb of Pope Julius in Rome, if I recall the location's name well, his "Captives", amazing demonstrations of how his art created 'living" forms from stone, all those being sculptures unequalled anywhere, to the best of my knowledge, complemented by his painterly depiction of the Biblical narrative from Genesis to Revelation on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, one of the greatest achievements by any human being in his masterly marshalling of diverse scenes and multifarious characters, bringing them alive with unique force so that even without a Biblical background the glory of the intertwining of human and divine history that is the Biblical narrative glows forth, even if notb fully understood but radiant in the visual force of the story being told.
Within the context of his superlative achievements, however, Michelangelo may be described as not introduce any innovations to the visual register of the artistic culture he worked in or to world art.
His imagination operates strictly within the boundaries of the kinds of forms all artists used in depicting the same subjects in the Renaissance.
Onobrakpeya
Onobrakpeya,on the other hand, as well as employing the visual conventions of the expressive cultures he draws upon, is able to modify them by creating his own visual signatures, as his " Shrine Set" sculptural assemblage, addressing a ubiquitous motif in traditional African shrines, the use of a screen in demarcating sacred from profane space.
He transforms this simple idea into a powerfully eloquent as well as mysteriously evocative projection of the human quest to engage the arcane and the numinous, something compelling but mysterious, calling a person to itself but almost frightening in its distance from human reality, through the use of his self created Ibiebe script, mysterious inscriptions derived from Urhobo but reworked at the intersection of his own imagination and diverse graphic forms, inscribed on the screen like a message between humans and spirits, between humans and entities beyond full human grasp, a graphic symbolism amplified by a row of miniature sculptural forms, humanoid, semi- humanoid and abstract hanging from the screen, like denizens of some strange universe the artist calls upon to energize the shrine space.
This visual drama is amplified by multi colored pillars in the same space, like sentinels guarding the space or broadcasting a message, a sense of power, beauty and mystery further galvanized by the exquisite divination circle on the floor, strikingly beautiful yet unlike any known circle of that kind, concentrating the traffic with mysterious powers the installation dramatizes in terms of something both visually glorious yet enigmatic.
This combination of the enigmatic and the visually potent is a defining feature of Onobrakpeya's art.
From his Akporode installation, visualizing the grandeur, scope and majesty of the cosmos as understood in Urhobo thought, integrating a multi - cultural assemblage of forms in projecting this majesty in terms of sculpture and multi -media assemblage as prayer, an appeal for " divine guidance in achieving divine greatness" as he describes the installation, to his varied dictions of the belief of the idea of intelligent life as going beyond humans and animals to encompass physical and non-physical beings not conventionally accessible to humanity, to his compelling visualizations of the Mammy Water kingdom, under the sea, to a man pretending to be dead in order to access information about the route to the land beyond death, and many more, encountering Onobrakpeya's art is like finding oneself inside an enchanted forest, illuminated by sunlight yet rich with intriguing darkness, a journey through something glorious and yet mysterious, inspiring and perplexing.
I'm so struck by all who showed support for my post on the need to escalate scholarship on the art and life of the Nigerian artist Bruce Onobrakpeya.
A lot of work has been done on his art and some on his life. What has been achieved so far constitutes the foundations of what is needed to fully engage the artist's work and life, foundations to be built upon to reach higher levels of Onobrakpeya scholarship.
Why so?
Range of Reference
Onobrakpeya is a pre-eminent artist of African spiritual and philosophical systems.
His work draws upon Urhobo, Benin (Edo), Yoruba, Fulani, Akan and perhaps other African spiritual cultures and their expressive forms, reworking them in his own unique way.
He also draws upon modern technology, such as spark plugs,motor spare parts and electronic circuits in creating his constructions of the sacred within secular contexts.
I describe his best work that way beceause he is not working in a religious context but his work draws from spiritual cultures and has great spiritual significance.
Multi-Cultural
To adequately engage Onobrakpeya, one needs a grounding in Urhobo, Benin(Edo), Yoruba, Fulani and Akan and perhaps other African peoples' philosophies, spiritualities and their arts as well as a sensitivity to the philosophical possibilities of technology and science.
Urhobo
Without a significant grasp of Urhobo philosophies and spiritualities and associated visual and verbal arts, a lot of Onobrakpeya's work is deprived of half of its meaning for a viewer because Urhobo spiritual and philosophical cultures and their visual and verbal correlates are foundational to his work.
Yoruba
Its also critical to understand Yoruba spiritualities, philosophies and associated verbal and visual arts to guide appreciation of his use of these forms, such as his deployment of edan ogboni, a central sculptural symbol and instrument of the Yoruba origin Ogboni esoteric order and his recurrent adaptation of the motif of the opon Ifa, the divination tray and cosmological symbol of the Yoruba expression of the Ifa knowledge and divination system.
Benin/Edo
Onobrakpeya has also masterfully deployed traditions of Benin art in his installations and etchings, developing in his own way the projection of majesty which Benin art relating to the Oba and his court realizes so masterfully.
Akan
Onobrakpeya's art also reflects the influence of Adinkra, an artistic philosophical symbolism from.the Akan and Gyaman of Ghana.
Fulani
He is wonderful in his artistic exploration of the intersection of Fulani spiritual and artistic cultures, from.the mystique of cattle, central to Fulani cosmology and spirituality, to amulets, instruments for concentrating spiritual power, to clothing as a means of projecting the magical and the mysterious.
Christian
Onobrakpeya is also a magnificent Christian artist, uniquely reworking strategic aspects of Biblical narrative and theology in projecting an African centred imagination, yet one that resonates universally in exploring the mystery and power of the sacred in transforming reality.
A knowledge of the Bible, particularly the New Testament, is indispensable to adequately engaging his visualizations of Biblical narratives and characters, such as Jesus and Paul.
Ideally,one also needs a background in global traditions of Christian art, to understand the scope of Onobrakpeya's originality in engaging with such universal themes of Christian art as the Wedding at Canaan, the Last Supper, the Sermon on the Mount and the life and theology of St. Paul.
Need for Biographical Elaborations
A lot has been written on Onobrakpeya's life by himself and others but collectively what has been provided are broad brush strokes or basic details.
I'm not aware of any in depth study of his development in relation to his art in the context of his life's journey across various locations beginning from his natal community Agbarha in the Niger Delta, to Ughelli, Sapele, Benin and Lagos, and more, interacting with the material environments and human contexts evoking those he passed through and those he still inhabits.
Research Imperatives
To achieve all this, fresh avenues of research must be opened up while developing a thorough grounding in what has already been achieved in Onobrakpeya's scholarship so as to build on those foundations.
There is also a need for a collectively developed database of primary sources - his art and studies of his art- and secondary sources- studies relevant to his art but not dealing with it.
That is my current journey.
Spiritual and Philosophical Power
Why am I inspired by Onobrakpeya?
I am a seeker of knowledge as to how people make sense of existence.
Along those lines, I am studying and practicing various spiritualities and philosophies across the world and verbal and visual art across Africa, Asia and the West as well as the history and philosophy of science and writing on a significant number of these interests.
My interest in Onobrakpeya's life and work derives from this quest.
I understand him as a pre-eminent demonstrator of the contemporary and timeless significance of African spiritualities and philosophies, his unique reworking of these inspirations dramatizing their creative mobility across cultural, temporal and geograhical contexts.
Between Michelangelo and Onobrakpeya
Michelangelo
I see his work as comparable in scope of reference and inventive dynamism to that of the Italian sculptor, painter, architect and poet Michelangelo Buonarotti but excelling beyond Michelangelo in his scope of reworking of the traditional contexts he builds upon.
Michelangelo is an ultimate visualizer of the human form, particularly the male body, in awesome sculpture and majestic painting, his depictions of strategic aspects of the Christian story achieving iconicity across the centuries.
In terms of visual inventiveness, however, he did better than others what everyone else was doing during the Italian Renaissance, his historical and cultural period.
His "David", his " Pieta", sculpture of Mary holding Jesus after his crucifixion, his "Moses" depicting the Hebrew leader in terms of a unique animation of inward force and other wonderful pieces at the tomb of Pope Julius in Rome, if I recall the location's name well, his "Captives", amazing demonstrations of how his art created 'living" forms from stone, all those being sculptures unequalled anywhere, to the best of my knowledge, complemented by his painterly depiction of the Biblical narrative from Genesis to Revelation on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, one of the greatest achievements by any human being in his masterly marshalling of diverse scenes and multifarious characters, bringing them alive with unique force so that even without a Biblical background the glory of the intertwining of human and divine history that is the Biblical narrative glows forth, even if notb fully understood but radiant in the visual force of the story being told.
Within the context of his superlative achievements, however, Michelangelo may be described as not introduce any innovations to the visual register of the artistic culture he worked in or to world art.
His imagination operates strictly within the boundaries of the kinds of forms all artists used in depicting the same subjects in the Renaissance.
Onobrakpeya
Onobrakpeya,on the other hand, as well as employing the visual conventions of the expressive cultures he draws upon, is able to modify them by creating his own visual signatures, as his " Shrine Set" sculptural assemblage, addressing a ubiquitous motif in traditional African shrines, the use of a screen in demarcating sacred from profane space.
He transforms this simple idea into a powerfully eloquent as well as mysteriously evocative projection of the human quest to engage the arcane and the numinous, something compelling but mysterious, calling a person to itself but almost frightening in its distance from human reality, through the use of his self created Ibiebe script, mysterious inscriptions derived from Urhobo but reworked at the intersection of his own imagination and diverse graphic forms, inscribed on the screen like a message between humans and spirits, between humans and entities beyond full human grasp, a graphic symbolism amplified by a row of miniature sculptural forms, humanoid, semi- humanoid and abstract hanging from the screen, like denizens of some strange universe the artist calls upon to energize the shrine space.
This visual drama is amplified by multi colored pillars in the same space, like sentinels guarding the space or broadcasting a message, a sense of power, beauty and mystery further galvanized by the exquisite divination circle on the floor, strikingly beautiful yet unlike any known circle of that kind, concentrating the traffic with mysterious powers the installation dramatizes in terms of something both visually glorious yet enigmatic.
This combination of the enigmatic and the visually potent is a defining feature of Onobrakpeya's art.
From his Akporode installation, visualizing the grandeur, scope and majesty of the cosmos as understood in Urhobo thought, integrating a multi - cultural assemblage of forms in projecting this majesty in terms of sculpture and multi -media assemblage as prayer, an appeal for " divine guidance in achieving divine greatness" as he describes the installation, to his varied dictions of the belief of the idea of intelligent life as going beyond humans and animals to encompass physical and non-physical beings not conventionally accessible to humanity, to his compelling visualizations of the Mammy Water kingdom, under the sea, to a man pretending to be dead in order to access information about the route to the land beyond death, and many more, encountering Onobrakpeya's art is like finding oneself inside an enchanted forest, illuminated by sunlight yet rich with intriguing darkness, a journey through something glorious and yet mysterious, inspiring and perplexing.
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