At the opening of his exhibition Femicides/Art Report – a mesh of painting, photography and infographic artworks, Colombian artist David Palacios trained eight young Nigerian artists on how to transform data into art.
This exhibition proposes a critical reflection on Femicides using data and the multiple tools of art to educate without losing the powerful poetic and aesthetic force of art. An art that does not want to remain distant and indifferent in the face of these atrocities committed today every eleven minutes by intimate partner or other family members.
Prior to the exhibition, Palacios whose unique art style combines thirty years’ experience, knowledge and skills in an arts and graphics career, worked with local artists: painter, Obi Nwaegbe and, photographer, Tersoo Gundu, to breakdown global information statistics on femicides by the United Nations Office On Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) into colourful images that captures and draws in viewers, to the wealth of information it holds.
The artists worked in phases, Nwaegbe representing the report’s information in vibrantly colourful canvas, Gundu, presenting a photographic report of the painting – worn by female models as gele, while Palacios unites these two visual experiences in a Photo-Graphic report, containing the most relevant data from the report.
This exhibition is the second series of two art projects on feminine issues that is Palacios’ tribute to a popular Nigerian artist, J.D. Okhai. The first being Domestic Abuse featuring infographics and photographs of women in flamboyant African hairstyles.
The artist has also used his unique style to address issues of slavery in Latin America and Europe, among other topical global issues.
For him, choosing which data to transform into art, is about his personal grapples with society, and himself. It is about giving visibility to what often times when reported in the media is just numbers to the public. By blowing up the issue on canvas using attractive images, viewers are drawn into deeper inspection of the information they entail. “It is about using art to show all that information, another way to see that information.”
About David Palacios
David Palacios belongs to a generation of artists whose proposals relate to the newest languages. His work deals with the deconstruction of works of art and the multiple fields related to this notion. Palacios also carries out an intertextual analysis of the work as a product and the context that sponsors it, employing institutional connections of all sorts. Using various indicators, comparative charts, percentile analysis and statistical diagrams, the artist shows the complexity of these relationships. In many cases, he alludes to corrupted associations that transform the work into a mere symbol destined for commercialisation and marketing. Palacios has participated with other artists in various group projects and has shown his work as installations as well as in traditional formats.
About Obi Nwaegbe
Obi Nwaegbe is a visual artist, entrepreneur and executive director of Artstier Company Limited, based in Abuja & Lagos. Obi’s career as a professional artist and administrator has run through fifteen years of focus and dedication to a vision, which is the design and education of his heritage, country, and the contribution to the growth of human civilization.
About Tersoo Gundu
Tersoo Gundu is a photographer based in Abuja. He started his career as a photographer and curator working for several organisations, where he acquired some operational, marketing and management skills. In 2021, Tersoo GUNDU, was selected to participate in laureate of the 2021 edition of the French-Nigerian curatorial residency programme.
