Epic Journeys

This exhibition offers the first retrospective of Hassan Aliyu’s astonishing 40-year career. An artist of remarkable breadth and depth, his work reflects a multi-cultural British-Nigerian heritage and life experiences which straddle two continents and encompass many remarkable journeys.

​

From early works of the 80’s and 90’s created in Lagos to artworks completed in the UK in 2026, the current exhibition - shown across two venues - Wolfson College Cambridge and ArtSpace5-7, Portugal place,  includes seminal paintings, iconic collages and never-before-exhibited drawings and works on paper which provide unparalleled insight into Aliyu’s thought process and creative practice. The diversity of his skills are on full display – as master draftsman, painter as well as abstract and conceptual artist and is curated across the two venues by Dr. Anna M. Dempster, Fellow of Wolfson College, University of Cambridge.

​

The title Epic Journey, reflects not only the epic scale of the work - but Aliyu’s far-reaching world-view and perspective on history. The rhythmic, poetic, and almost musical qualities of Aliyu’s art evoke an epic story – re-imagined through visual form, so relevant and timely in our contemporary world. As many parts of the world explode in conflict, Aliyu’s epic canvases ignite with fiery colours and critiques of the status quo. The multi-dimensional surfaces constructed of disparate elements demand to be explored in detail, and give the paradoxical impression of being at the same time fragmented and part of a greater whole.

​

Epic also refers to the timeless traditional of oral storytelling, prevalent in the African continent as in many parts of the world, and proposes the role of the artist as narrator, educator and story-teller – evoking parables and heroic adventures of the past, present and future.

​

Journeys, in the plural, implies not only a single direction of travel with a beginning and an end, but a restless, perilous criss-crossing over space and time. Journeys compelled by political, social and economic forces, characterised by resilience in the face of extreme uncertainty. Such journeys, have been made by many – including by the Nigerian diaspora – and are universal to all peoples forced by migration and displacement to traverse vast distances and unknown territories. 

​

A master colourist, Aliyu’s hues blend and fade imperceptibly into each other or unexpectedly explode from the surface. His skills as a classically trained painter enable the delicate and nuanced transitions associated with fine art, and lend elegance and grace, for example, to his portraits and portrayals of the feminine form. Aliyu’s use of thick impasto paint applied with a pallet knife in his earlier paintings of sports in motion from runners, cyclists and boxers, reveal a sculptural quality. 

Layers of found and recycled materials including shredded bank statements and explicit branding of western consumer goods, transcends the use of traditional media. Highly textured surfaces catch light in unexpected ways and increase the feeling of movement, constantly challenging boundaries of media and method, form and function.

​

Aliyu’s works are remarkable for their perpetual motion – a signature element of his art. In spite of their stillness, nothing stays still.  At first glance the works present an almost incomprehensible explosion of colour and structure.  They are overwhelming and mesmerising. The viewer is led across a seemingly endless canvas of elements, searching for meaning. Yet, no line, surface or element is without purpose. There is meaning in every chain link, every anchor, every falling human body – whether it’s referencing the horrors of the slave trade or the servitude of economic indenture. 

 

Aliyu’s art offers a deep engagement with the historical complexities of the African content. From legacies of slavery and colonial rule, to the fraught struggle for independence and emergence of the Nigerian nation, to subsequent interventions and neo-colonial policies which impacted the region’s economic and socio-cultural development, Aliyu questions and critiques the past and the present in brave, uncompromising ways. The collection of artworks in this exhibition, including works on loan to Wolfson College, alongside more recent pieces exhibited at ArtSpace 5-7 Portugal Place, offers a visual expression of the history of Nigeria and Africa. Standing in front of Hassan Aliyu’s epic artworks – you can literally feel the maelstrom unfold. The viewer is confronted with a visual story, which includes an overarching narrative, yet remains firmly rooted in individual, human experiences, full of subtleties and nuances, contradictions and complexities of life – a paradox for our life and times.

​​

Dr. Anna M. Dempster, Wolfson College, University of Cambridge