2013
I did this exhibition in 2013.
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I did this exhibition in 2013.
This is one of the paintings I just discovered in my garage.
The painting celebrates Robert Hayden’s poem, “Middle Passage.”
It is a really long poem.
The painting focuses on this excerpt:
“That Crew and Captain lusted with the comeliest
of the savage girls kept naked in the cabins;
that there was one they called The Guinea Rose
and they cast lots and fought to lie with her: ”
The character across the floor of the ship being whipped to consent is the lady called Guinea Rose in the poem.
Fear Not the Storm
Àwa kò bẹ̀rù (We are not afraid)
Àyà kò fò wá (Scared are we not)
Olódùmarè lalákǒso (The Almighty is in charge)
Kò sí bí ìjì náà ṣe lè tó (However wild the storm may rage)
Àwa ọmọ Irúnmọlẹ̀ (We are the children of Divine forces)
When nobody supports you,
when everybody says no to you,
when people turn down your requests,
and you cannot get any grant
when they band together to oppose you,
and say your ideas are not practical
and they frown when they see you:
don’t despair;
these are signs that you are moving in the right direction;
keep placing one foot ahead of the other
continue to push ahead
Don’t pick an orange
for its enormous size.
The fatness of the citrus
is not a sign of its sweetness.
I’ve seen large oranges
that are firm and juiceless
And I’ve eaten tiny ones
so sweet and sumptuous
2020 has been an eventful year.
We will not itemize the list of the horrors of the year.
Can we, instead, highlight the blessings?
Rather than explore the sadness of the year, can we paint images that are sweet?
Can we find the joy hidden behind the sorrow?
Can we squeeze order out of the chaos?
The rainbow is smearing
pigments on my teeth
as if being colored
is a virtue;
All it does is keep the
cops from trusting me
when I cross
the street from innocence
to dark alleys
where they play hide