Ben Osawe

BEN OSAWE “as an artist is continually experimenting, researching and learning new techniques as long as he is working. For this reason, art has to be dynamic to be able to present the result of my researches and experiments, be it clay, wood or metal. My art reflects various stages of my development”. So said the master sculptor Ben Osawe,   on his endless quest to continually reincarnate artistically, putting into practice the result of researches through different mode of experimentation. Acknowledged as one of Nigeria’s leading light in sculpture, he experimented with bronze, brass, wood, cement and welded metal and his works adorn homes of private collectors and national galleries and museums.

The late Ben Osawe was born 26^th 1931 in Benin City into a traditional family of wood carvers. His father apprenticed under Oba Eweka II, a distinguished artist in his own right. He went to Britain in 1956, where he studied first at the school of Graphics for a year. This was later followed by a five year study at Camberwell School of Art.

He had held major local and international exhibitions and was one of the five Nigerian artists that represented the country in the Commonwealth Exhibition in Glasgow in 1965. His last major exhibition-What the thieves left behind- was held in Ikoyi, Lagos

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

• Mbari Centre, Ibadan. Exhibition Center Lagos. Piccadilly and AIA Galleries London.

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

• Artists International Association Gallery, London 1962
• Royal Scottish Museum Edinburgh 1963
• Treasures of the Commonwealth, Commonwealth festival exhibition centre, Lagos 1967
• Contemporary Nigerian Art, commonwealth institute Art gallery London June 20 – July 21 1968.
• Mainland Hotel Lagos 1969
• Contemporary Nigerian Sculpture on the Occasion of the Tenth Anniversary of the University of Ife. University of Ife, September – October 1973.
• Exhibition of Contemporary Nigerian Art. National Centre for Arts and Culture Lagos. January 24 – February 19 1977

FESTAC’77, Lagos 1977