ArtxLagos: The bliss of standing and observing beauty

Every year it began, ArtxLagos has been an annual gathering of art lovers and artists displaying their brilliance. 

Artists hang beautiful - and very expensive artwork around the entire tent of Federal Palace Hotel Lagos. 

Many of us do not have the opportunity to buy this artwork, but we can admire them at least. One painting we priced was around N4,000,000.

In these artworks are hidden mysteries and messages, the artist conveying messages with a pencil, a picture, paint, even beads or a sculpture - each saying something.

The highlight of this year was the recreation of the Benin Kingdom, eerie Benin music, that sounded like women wailing played in the background, and we were transported into the world of the artist, Victor Ehikhamenor, who used beads, cowries and even rosaries to tell the story of Benin Kingdom.

Or it is 2021 Artx prize winner Chigozie Obi? who transports us to her three months in England with heartfelt handwritten messages about her friends and the people she loved.

Or the pencilled drawing of a woman that looked as real as a picture or the contemporary painting of a man listening to Kendrick Lamar while a woman braids his hair or a sculpture of a school girl pushing a cart of water.

These artworks call us to think about the nature of our society and stir in us feelings of awe, and wonder. Partaking in the artist’s world transport Sus to the story behind the paintings- we inquire about them, what does this art say to me? What is this painting or drawing about?

More than a competition, Artx is the meeting of minds to admire the beauty.