Fidelis Joseph: Today, A Dream of Yesterday

PHÍLOS by Asibi Danjuma presents Today, A Dream of Yesterday, an exhibition of recent paintings by Fidelis Joseph, curated by his contemporary Kadara Enyeasi.

In Joseph’s solo debut, he presents to us a body of work that is both abstract and deeply expressive in nature, serving as a glimpse into the mundane, passionate aspects of the human condition. Within his colour filled landscapes, figures burst and blur in tandem and akin to the title Today, A Dream of Yesterday, we find ourselves in the present trying to piece fragments together, or rather trace our steps back into the past. Hidden in the depths of the artists sublime visuality can also be found a treasure- trove of African storytelling. There are nuances which are an ode to childhood stories passed on from his grandmother to the surrealist nature of Amos Tutuola’s folk-tales.

It is rare to find a young renowned artist curating the works of his contemporary and Enyeasi’s unrivalled intuition beckons the viewer into the artist’s beguiling worlds, as they unravel bit by bit.

Joseph Fidelis (b. 1989) in Adamawa state, Nigeria. He holds a B.A Fine Arts (2017) from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, where he majored in painting.
Fidelis has exhibited in several groups: Kaduna Art Fair organized by the National Gallery of Art Abuja 2017, The Maker Lab and Collective Rendition organized by African Artists’ Foundation in 2018 and 2019 respectively, Rele gallery’s Young Contemporaries 2019 and Ake Arts and Book Festival 2020.
Fidelis lives and works in Lagos, Nigeria.

PHÍLOS
59 Raymond Njoku
Ikoyi, Lagos

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