Oba Kò so - Erú Ko Si Siwaju Sii (The King Did Not Hang - Slaves No More)
City Wide Artists was a gallery produced through Vision Management Group Inc. in Minneapolis, MN. Their mission was to present inner city artists with deeply rooted, contemporary, and controversial work. Located at a crossing point of the industrial landscape and big corporations, Gallery Director Teqen Zea-Aida took interest in creating a platform that redefined urban creative spaces.
In November of 2015, I produced and designed Oba Kò so - Erú Ko Si Siwaju Sii, a solo exhibition with new works by internationally known artist, Òmó Oba (Prince) Adetomiwa Gbadebo. The exhibition included works speaking to those around the world dealing with the prosperities and social discords of humanity.
Gbadebo is challenging society to attain a sustainable equilibrium of life. The artist believes that he is just a Yorùbá man and a mortal; acting as a vessel sharing his Ifá philosophies and journey with all. The goal of his work is to inspire an enlightened future - socially, morally, economically, and spiritually.
Photographs from the opening reception are by Jacob Leyhe.
Catalog
To further describe the visual work, we created a small catalogue for the exhibition. I photographed HRH Gbadebo working in the gallery space and designed a limited edition 24 page book of 250 copies.
With the utmost respect towards the artist’s practice, I researched and discussed Ifà spiritual concepts with Gbadebo. It was important to use the design to inform readers about the background of Ifà principles.
