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Temi Edun
A thousand words
2023

$9,300List Price

About the Item

Temi Wynston Edun is a contemporary abstract figurative artist who lives and works in Columbia, Maryland. Born in Ibadan, West Africa, the first of six children, his intense and brooding portraits explore social, political, and psychological themes of the Black experience. His engaging figures capture phenotypic features of people of sub-Saharan heritage that he calls “Africanness” in a unique and distinctive use of mark making. Scale portraits and figures, usually isolated in spare or abstract backgrounds, emphasize the facial stares and expressions of the subjects, transporting the viewer to a level of intimacy and engagement with the work. This intimacy is the focal objective of the artist’s creations. Nothing tells the story of humanity like the face of a human. I am fascinated by faces and the stories they tell, I look for "interesting faces" more so than beautiful ones. But, to me, interesting is not enough. A portrait must be engaging and emotive, be able to tell a story without words and to communicate with the viewer in an unspoken dialogue of innovative ideas and insights, and of some shared experiences. From an early age, Edun’s talent was recognized. He won multiple awards as a child including a competition in 1979 for his design of a poster commemorating UNESCO’s International Year of the Child. While a teenager studying at Edo College in Benin City, Nigeria (high school), his portrait of the Oba of Benin (the traditional ruler of the Edo people) was presented to the Oba. In 1984, Wynston earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Benin in Benin City, Nigeria, where he graduated with honors. One of his large-scale metal sculptures is still exhibited in a garden at the university. After graduation, Edun had exhibitions of his work in both Benin City and in Lagos, Nigeria. In 1990, after migrating to the U.S., he received a commission to design a work of art for the Howard University Gospel Choir. From 1990 to 1993, Wynston worked and studied under internationally acclaimed Baltimore-based artist Larry “Poncho” Brown. Edun’s work has been exhibited in galleries throughout his home state of Maryland and internationally such as Paris in 2022 and London in 2021. His work has been in international publications such as New American Paintings, Issue Number 166. His work, “Just get over it (they say),” was featured on the Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures. In 2018, the DC Black Repertory Company commissioned Wynston to paint the portrait of the repertory’s founding actor and Hollywood legend, Robert Hooks. Wynston Edun volunteers as a teacher to both young and older aspiring artists at Bridgeway Community Church in Columbia, MD and is a member of a number of artists’ organizations including the Maryland Federation of Art. Temi Wynston Edun says of his work… My pieces are a critical re-evaluation of the portrayal of the Black experience. I invite my viewers into a discourse on decolonization, using my images to strip down cultural and historic tropes, forcing confrontation with the hegemonic system of thought. Working primarily in portraiture, my medium re-examines the classic narratives, asking the viewer for a fresh and introspective appraisal of my subjects devoid of any social politicization of blackness. My work features an intensity of expression as a way of prompting this discourse and what I consider to be a necessary interrogation particularly those associated with the black countenance. I layer and mix my pigment on the surface using oil sticks on canvas, my portraits occupy that space between realism and abstraction as derived from my imagination. The intent is to trigger a multi-faceted response from the viewer; the portrait being the only construct. To draw in the viewer, the faces often make direct eye contact, and the skin eschews natural colors. Other elements of interest are the textural quality and intensity of gaze. I ask simply that you examine what is in front of you and make of it what you will.

Creator:
Temi Edun (Nigerian)
Creation Year:
2023
Dimensions:
Height: 60 in (152.4 cm)Width: 48 in (121.92 cm)
Medium:
Canvas,Oil
Movement & Style:
Contemporary
Period:
21st Century
Framing:
Framing Options Available
Condition:
Gallery Location:
New Orleans, LA
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU105215064282

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