By Prisca Sam-Duru
Photographer and filmmaker, Logor’s recent body of work titled Down The Rabbit Hole is at the moment, making waves at Alara Contemporary Art, Victoria Island, Lagos. Down The Rabbit Hole, the artist’s maiden exhibition at ALARA Art is part of the ‘ALARA Emerging Artists Series’ which opened last Friday and runs till June 18, 2016. Deriving his signature from real name, Logo Oluwamuyiwa Adeyemi, Logor, one of Nigeria’s finest artists who works predominantly in black and white has his works, adorning the aesthetically designed Alara while drawing viewers attention to his unique approach to conceptual documentation of the human carnival. ‘Down The Rabbit Hole’, a conceptual installation of light and photography featuring excerpts from Logor’s widely acclaimed ‘Monochrome Lagos’ and other works, takes the observer from ‘clash’ to ‘subtlety’, ‘noise’ to ‘calm’. Logor’s first major project, ‘Monochrome Lagos’, is a unique reflection on the city of Lagos that strips down the noisy colours of the busy metropolis.
The works are a visual digital archive, a unique reflection on an old city, and an extraordinary expose of its idiosyncrasies and aesthetics. Logor showcases the beauty of this extraordinary city in a poetic, mystical, mythical and romantic form, delivering a place to which none has hitherto been or seen. Logor’s is a fresh perspective on a well trod path, presented in enchanting portraiture and landscape photography. His uncommon perspective on the city of Lagos, led to the selection of his recent body of work ‘Down the Rabbit Hole’ as the debut exhibition in the ‘ALARA Emerging Artists’ series. Chicken Wings, Last Train of Sanity, Point of Entry and Exit, Dusty Foot Philosophy, No Smoking of Indian Hemp, Hard Drugs & Ilegal Meeting, are some of the titles of works on display. For viewers who are curious as to why Logor had to go down ages to unravel mystries in the rabbit hole, he explained that “I was born in the 90s and Alice in Wonderland from which the title of the exhibition was taken from, happened to be one of the classics I read. Things I read were not neccessarily by choice. ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ is one of the most famous works by Lewis Caroll who was an English writer, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon, and photographer. What’s interesting about his writing, to me, is the alteration of logic and creation of fantasies and alternate realities. The idea of altered reality is as fertile a subject for fantasy as it is for science fiction, allowing for epic settings and godlike. protagonists which are perfectly efficient in both the arts and the sciences.” Aside being inspired by the Adventures of Alice in Wonderland, the photographer also draws inspiration from his cultural background having spent his early stage in life in his home town. His art which he described as a study rather than statement, most often, reflects his state of mind. For instance, Chicken Wings aims to draw attention of the public on how a lot of things that would have impacted the public positively, have been left undone while its been all talks and flexing of muscles, a situation he likens to the flapping of the chicken’s wings. His approach revolves around conceptual and documentary style photography, carried out through his trained eye and camera, which are shrewd observers of the human carnival. Logor captures photographic narratives from perspectives that are often considered banal and are either overlooked, ignored or taken for granted, by exposing subtle nuances that resonate with his audience enough to hone a paradigm shift on how the subject captured is typically perceived. In its breath, freshness and daring, Down the Rabbit Hole achieves a true paradigm shift on how the city is presented and appreciated by a global audience, including local residents who typically rush past the unchanging beauty of this old town.
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