Abraham Oghobase Untitled 2012
Untitled, 2012.
Untitled, 2012.
Untitled, 2012.
Untitled, 2012.
Untitled, 2012.
Untitled, 2012.
Artist's Statement
The commercial capital of the country, is a city of over 10 million people where competition for space is a daily struggle and extends from accommodation to advertising (and everything in between).
As such, every available space, from signboards to the sides of buildings, are indiscriminately plastered with hundreds of handbills and posters and scrawled with text advertising the many and diverse services offered by the city’s enterprising residents and drivers of a robust large informal economy. Validating the authenticity of the information contained in these ads becomes quite a complex task for the consumer, however, due to the disorganised mode of presentation and often incomplete details. My engagement with one such wall of ‘classifieds’ serves to question the effectiveness of such guerilla marketing.
About the photographer
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1979, Lagos, Nigeria
Nigerian
Toronto, Canada
Abraham Onoriode Oghobase studied at the Yaba College of Technology’s School of Art, Design and Printing in Lagos, majoring in photography. Understudying Nigerian painter and photographer Deji Ajose and the acclaimed sculptor and photographer Uche James Iroha, Oghobase received further mentorship in the early stages of his career from French-Algerian photographer Bruno Boudjelal.
A quest for the purpose of existence has led Oghobase to a unique form of art, as he explores issues relating to human emotions and identity against specific socio-economic backdrops, often using himself as material for his performance-based work. His photography has been exhibited in his home country of Nigeria and across Africa and Europe. Oghobase’s work is also part of private collections, including the KIASMA Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland and most recently he’s been longlisted for the IMIA-AGO Photography Prize.
Consumption Shortlist
Michael Schmidt, Lebensmittel, 2006-2010
Adam Bartos, Yard Sale, 2008
Motoyuki Daifu, Project Family, 2007-2011
Rineke Dijkstra, Almerisa, 1994-2008
Hong Hao, My Things, 2001-2009
Mishka Henner, Beef & Oil, 2013
Boris Mikhailov, Tea, Coffee & Cappuccino, 2000-2010
Abraham Oghobase, Untitled, 2012
Allan Sekula, Fish Story, 1988 -1995
Laurie Simmons, The Love Doll, 2010