Odili Donald Odita

Born in Enugu, Nigeria, in 1966, Odili Donald Odita explores the element of color in both figurative and historical and sociopolitical contexts through his works, seeking to tell the story of Africa and its rich culture. Raised in Nigeria, Donald Odita spent his adolescence in Huntsville, Alabama, USA. While studying at Ohio State University and Bennington College, he came into contact with the likes of Peter Halley and Sarah Canright. This eclectic training would help develop his multidisciplinary approach to art and influenced his understanding of color theory and geometry. One of the distinguishing features of Odili Donald Odita’s work is his bold and vibrant use of color. His geometric and abstract compositions are a symphony of bright, contrasting hues that blend together to create a striking visual effect. Odita experiments with combining complementary colors, pastel shades, and vibrant hues to create a sense of harmony and vitality in his works. His approach to color is intentional and is designed to arouse emotions and feelings in the viewer. According to the artist, «Color itself has the potential to reflect the complexity of the world as well as the potential for its own particular identity. The figurative scheme and patterns of my paintings are my own creation. I continue to seek the metaphorical ability in my work to approach the human condition through pictorial patterns, their structure and design, as well as the ability to stimulate memory. The colors I use are a mix of various shades that I create personally to reflect the set of visual memories I have acquired during my travels. This is also one of the most complicated aspects of my work, as I create new hues intuitively, mixing colors by hand, and coordinating them during the creative process. My practice never sees the same color repeated more than once, but at most, one color may look similar to another. This aspect is very important to me as it reflects the disparity and variety that exists in our world, made up of people and things.» Odili Donald Odita’s production also reflects his cultural identity and experiences as a Nigerian-American artist. In his works, he explores themes of belonging, migration, race and culture. Using color as a visual language, he seeks to create a dialogue on the complexities of contemporary life and both shared and individual experiences. His work invites the audience to reflect on diversity, inclusion and peaceful coexistence between different cultures and identities. The artist’s work has been exhibited in museums and institutions around the world. In recent years, the artist has produced large-scale wall works, commissioned by government organizations and art institutions including The United States Mission to the United Nations in New York (2011); the Savannah College of Art and Design (2012); New Orleans Museum of Art (2011); Kiasma, Helsinki (2011). The artist has received grants from the Penny McCall Foundation (1994), the Joan Mitchell Foundation (2001), and the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation (2007). In 2007, his large-scale installation Give Me Shelter was shown at the 52nd Venice Biennale as part of the main exhibition curated by Robert Storr, Think With The Senses, Feel With the Mind. The artist lives and works in Philadelphia, where he teaches painting and drawing at the Tyler School of Art, Temple University. In 2016 M77 Gallery presented the exhibition The Differend. The exhibition featured a selection of works created specifically for the show. Odita also created a large wall-painting, for which the artist is particularly well known for. The exhibition title came from the book of the same name, published in 1988, by philosopher Jean-Francois Lyotard (1924–1998): “differend” (dissent, disagreement) is a term of French origin that designates the moment when language becomes insufficient for communication. The meaning of a sentence, according to Lyotard, cannot be established on the basis of the facts to which it refers: reality is a complex of possible meanings, all connected to reality itself through words. It follows that language is insufficient to describe and understand the world, and the true meaning of any sentence will always remain indeterminate. A relativism that Odita borrows from verbal to pictorial language, attributing to colors the same multiplicity of meanings that Lyotard assigned to words.

Odili Donald Odita

Exhibitions

M77 Gallery presenta la mostra The Differend, personale del pittore Odili Donald Odita. Nato a Enugo, in Nigeria, Odita vive e lavora negli Stati Uniti, tra Philadelphia e New York. Il suo lavoro si rifà alle esperienze degli astrattisti afroamericani degli anni Settanta e Ottanta ed esplora le dimensioni del colore come portato della storia dell’arte figurativa e del paesaggio ma anche secondo un ideale senso di lettura sociopolitica. La mostra presenta una selezione di opere appositamente realizzate per l’esposizione. Tra queste, anche un lavoro site-specific: un grande wall-painting, per i quali Odita è particolarmente conosciuto e apprezzato, che ha investito interamente una delle pareti della M77 Gallery. La mostra prende il titolo dall’omonimo libro, pubblicato nel 1988, del filosofo Jean-Francois Lyotard (1924-1998): “differend” (dissidio, disaccordo) è un termine di origine francese che designa il momento in cui il linguaggio diventa insufficiente alla comunicazione. Il significato di una frase, secondo Lyotard, non può essere stabilito sulla base dei fatti cui si riferisce: la realtà è un complesso di possibili significati, collegati alla realtà stessa attraverso le parole. Ne consegue che il linguaggio è insufficiente a descrivere e comprendere il mondo e il vero significato di ogni frase rimarrà sempre indeterminato. Un relativismo che Odita mutua dal linguaggio verbale a quello pittorico, attribuendo ai colori la stessa molteplicità di significati che Lyotard assegnava alle parole. Odili Donald Odita utilizza il colore come metafora dei codici culturali: le tonalità da lui create mirano a far risuonare echi familiari nello spettatore, favorendo le associazioni mentali e facendosi specchio della complessità del mondo. Odita infatti porta con sé una doppia eredità, occidentale e africana, che combina sapientemente nella sua ricerca estetica, per valicare nuove frontiere inesplorate. Abbandonando la necessità di un centro gerarchico nell’immagine, Odita invita l’osservatore a muoversi, mutando punto di vista: in questo modo si aprono prospettive multiple e cangianti che donano plasticità e tridimensionalità al dipinto. Odita struttura l’immagine dall’interno, creando geometrie a incastro dalle tinte contrastanti. Sono campiture piatte, spicchi di colori che si scheggiano e si espandono, ripetendosi e variando la loro forma secondo ritmi pulsanti. Dice l’artista: “I colori che uso sono personali: riflettono la collezione di visioni che riporto dai miei viaggi. Provare a ottenere i colori in modo intuitivo, miscelandoli manualmente e coordinandoli man mano, è uno degli aspetti che caratterizzano il mio processo di lavoro: non posso creare lo stesso colore due volte, ma solo realizzare colori che “sembrano” gli stessi. Questo aspetto è importante per me, in quanto sottolinea la specificità delle differenze che esistono nel mondo, nelle persone come nelle cose”. Un mondo di differenze che, attraverso l’arte, può tornare a essere uno: la bellezza, per Odili Odita, è ciò che rende consapevoli e avvicina all’idea di un’unica umanità.

At M77:

Date: 31/05/2016

- 17/09/2016

Artworks

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Publications

News

On the occasion of Miami Art Week, ICA Miami celebrates its newest season of exhibitions by displaying among other outst…
Arte Fiera 2017
Odili Donald Odita, Time Machine, 2016, Acrylic latex on laminate panel, 244 x 122 cm M77 Gallery is pleased to ann…