OLUJEANS ONLINE

ABASS KELANI : Man And Machine (Exhibition)

2011-11-18T03:32:00.001-08:00

Omenka Gallery ikoyi will open its doors to art lovers once again, this time to showcase one of yabatech's finest, KELANI ABASS. Kelani Abass Kelani (b. 1979) holds an OND (Distinction) from Yaba College of Technology and a HND from the same institution where he won the award for overall performance in the School of Art, Design and Printing. Abass was first runner-up in the National Gallery of Art logo competition for ARESUVA. He also won the Caterina de Medici painting competition organised as part of the Black Heritage Festival, Lagos in 2010.

The show opens November 19 @4pm and Concludes November 27 2011. You should'nt be missing this.

MY SPACE by Adeyinka Akingbade

2011-06-10T07:14:00.000-07:00

The term "MY SPACE means different things to different people, the artist tries to explain. To him, its about the people we encounter in life, and how they somehow take places in our lives....and the impact we make in theirs. Here a pictures from the exhibition by the yabatech trained painter, Yinka Akingbade!

Yinka with some art enthusiasts.

Guests at the show.

Congrats bro! (From the Olujeans team)

SKINY BLINK IN YOUR FACE!

2011-06-04T08:13:00.000-07:00

If you havent heard of SKINY BLINK, then you really are not that informed, its the next best thing on the apparel design scene. I caught up with the ever busy Dekunle Aina the dude behind the creative concepts and he had a bit to share about the brand......BLINK after you read! enjoy.

Dekunle Aina with The Prince.

OLUJEANS: HI DEKUNLE, I'LL REALLY LIKE TO KNOW WHAT BLINK IS ABOUT.

DEKUNLE: Blink is an urban street clothing brand. Blink is proudly African, Africa’s finest and Dope. The idea behind blink would be me ‘Dekunle Aina.

“blink” refers to the time the brain takes to process a chunk of information. During this time, the brain’s ability to process any other information is briefly impeded.

That’s what a blink tee does.

OLUJEANS: WHEN AND HOW DID YOU START?.

DEKUNLE: Blink was officially launched in 2009 but blink is a result of years of T-Shirt creation, a hobby I picked up in high school. I started out with pocket money and a loan from an angel investor.

OLUJEANS: WHATS UNIQUE ABOUT BLINK?

DEKUNLE: Blink is an expression of fragments of street culture, black heritage and respect for God. Nobody sees a blink tee without taking a second glance. That is our guarantee.

OLUJEANS: WHO HAVE YOU MADE FOR (CELEBRITIES)

DEKUNLE: Everyone who rocks a blink tee is a celeb. We made a custom tee for THE PRINCE aka OMOBA of the MOHITS crew for the HipHop World Awards last year.

OLUJEANS: HOW DO PEOPLE PLACE ORDERS?

DEKUNLE: Its part of our strategy to remain exclusive as such we do not retail at stores so one can only get a tee by contacting us or placing an order online. We are working on our flagship so keep your eyes peeled to the website.

Designs from the Skiny blink line.

Contact – www.skinyblink.tumblr.com

www.twitter.com/skinyblink

www.facebook.com/skinyblink

skinyblink@yahoo.com

UPCOMING EVENT- MY SPACE BY YINKA AKINGBADE

2011-05-19T04:34:00.000-07:00

Come 30th of this month, all roads lead to AAF: 59, Raymond Njoku Street, off Awolowo way ikoyi where art at its finest will be exhibited, the artist? Adeyinka Akingbade, a painting graduate from the Yaba college of technology will be having a one man salon. Speaking to the artist, here's how he describes his upcoming show

" The works I will be presenting is a body of work titled: 'My Space'. The work is a series showing how some people have succeeded in occupying a SPACE in one's life while some are just meant to pass and make an impression that will last for ever either good or bad and then live."

well, there you have it! The show opens 7pm.

A painting by Adeyinka

CREATIVE youngSTAR - CHIDINMA NNOROM!

2011-05-16T01:47:00.000-07:00

Nnorom Chidinma N. is a Visual Artist, born on the 14th of September, 1985 in Lagos State, Nigeria. She holds a Higher National Diploma in Graphics Design from Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, Nigeria, in 2009.

Chidinma started photography as a student when she participated in the “Paris-Lagos” Photo exchange project, which brought together students from the Fine Art School of Paris and a selected counterpart from the Yaba College of Arts of which she was one of. This project had two phases: in 2008, the students from Paris visited Lagos and worked with the Nigerian counterparts, and in 2009, the Nigerian students visited Paris. She relates with issues dealing with the everyday life of people- politics, culture, colours, symbols, and even to the most insignificant things. She plays around with the non-figurative in a bid to approach humanity indirectly through objects which have undergone human contacts and displacement, photographing her subjects in such away as it adds a question mark to an already existing statement. In her works one gets the assertion that simplicity does not necessarily imply the lack of complexity.

She was part of the Photography workshop: On Independence and The Ambivalence of Promise at The Center for Contemporary Art, Lagos, in 2010, and was invited to partake in the 2nd edition of the Invisible Borders Project which was held from April to May 2010. She travelled with a team of 10 Nigerian photographers from Lagos Nigeria to Dakar Senegal within a period of 20 days. She has exhibited in exhibitions like The Paris - Lagos photo exchange project, at the Alliance Francais, Lagos, in 2008; ‘On Independence and the Ambivalence of Promise’, at The Center for Contemporary Art, Lagos, in 2010; Invisible Borders 2010 ’The Idea of Africa (Re-invented)’,in Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland, and at The Festival of Arts, Dakar, Senegal, In 2010. She currently is on her National Youth Service Corps in Delta State of Nigeria, a compulsory one year service scheme undergone by young graduates and will be completed by June 2011. She also engages herself as a freelance Artist and as an Art Photographer.

water project (2008)

Power Play (2010)

Ola and Ada (2009)

Moments from my imaginations (2010)

Elohor (2010)

All images here are Copyrights of the photogragher (Chidinma Nnorom)

ENTRANCES AND EXITS - AN ART EXHIBITION BY VICTOR EHIKAMENOR!

2011-05-09T03:35:00.000-07:00

Doors, window panels, anything that swings were the ground for victors's creative expressions. His solo exhibition titled: ENTRANCES AND EXITS is currently on till the weekend at a CCA LAGOS managed hall on McEween St, Yaba, Lagos. The show opened on Saturday 5th May, 2011 and was really awesome. The attendance was impressive and the artist was really excited and eager to share his ideas with anyone who cared. GO CHECK IT OUT, IF YOU HAVEN'T!

art enthusiasts enjoying the pieces by Victor.

Victor with his fans, including me o.

DONALD ONUOHA EXHIBITS!

2011-05-03T01:58:00.000-07:00

Donald onuoha is an Abuja - based painter, a product of IMT Enugu, and i must confess, a master cubist. His paintings are currently on show at the Oliver Enwonwu managed Omenka Gallery in Ikoyi. Over 10 unique paintings are on display and really they are a must see! The opening ceremony was on the Friday the 28th of April, and had in attendance people from all walks of life appreciating his unique style and grace. If you haven't checked the paintings out, you still have till Sunday 8th May 2011 to do so. They are worth seeing.

LAGOS CARNIVAL 2011 - THE TRUE LAGOS PARTY!

2011-05-03T01:25:00.000-07:00

Lagosians love to party, from blocking streets to renting canopies and chairs, they just love the groove. Unfortunately most of the concerts held in lagos come with a price tag and so they have a portion of the lagos elitist crowd in attendance, but when you organise a party with no price tag, then its a different story, you have all and sundry. The attendance at this years Lagos carnival was great, the music was non-stop, with dj k-lexy on the wheels, it was the real lagos party, young people from all over lagos trooped into tafawa balewa square in their thousands, food and drink sellers were everywhere. it was coooool.

Then the real carnival parade began at about 3pm with a colorful display of costumes by youths from different local govts. in lagos. The mood was right, the sound was on point, security was tight.

Gov. fashola was also on ground waving energetically and thanking lagosians for his re-election. Really it was well organised and memorable. The day ended at about 7pm with a rich display of fire works, and then the BRT buses were on hand to take people home free of charge. If you weren't there i ask, BUT WHY?

FELA IN LAGOS!

2011-04-28T07:08:00.000-07:00

If you were not at the Fela! in Lagos show, well too bad, i wont even begin describing it, cos

my words won't be sufficient. its more of an experience, and that is untransferrable. so sorry!

From the lighting, to the multimedia effects, then the costumes, forget it. You don't miss things like that. Lagos truly experienced "an aesthetic PHENOMENON!".

COLOURS OF THE BEAT- FELA ON BROADWAY!

2011-04-20T01:20:00.000-07:00

I am no musician, neither am i a poet or some form of writer, so i am not even going to try analyzing afrobeat or even the legendary king of afrobeat- Fela. I think as a designer, i have a license to discuss other creative aspects like colour and other design elements abi? For the first time in recent times, afrobeat has been properly projected visually, using FELA ON BROADWAY as the platform.

The producers have sucessfully converted the powerful vibes of afrobeat into a flawless visual masterpiece i term AFROSTROKES, well i have a background in painting, so by strokes i am talking brushes, from the intensity of the hues in their poster designs to the gestures of the dancers on stage yet maintaining the fela figure as the focal point, they have successfully brought visual life to a concept that could only be translated audibly in the past, now visual artists can continue in spreading the message of freedom and energy which the african spirit constantly represents. viva africa!

(Check out the agression of the red hues, blended with the cool cerulean of his costume its almost saying, " i will destroy you but calmly and with some rhythm".)

SALUTE!

2011-04-15T07:01:00.001-07:00

YOU MADE YOUR MARK AND WE SAW IT!

HEAR FROM A PRO (1)

2011-03-10T07:14:00.000-08:00

Hi, i just decided to add some more interesting stuff to my blog, so here is the first.

i call it HEAR FROM A PRO. I thought of no better person to start the series with than the winner of the Afromedia creative competition 2010- Mr Oladapo Olukoya. Enjoy!

The winning entry by Olukoya Oladapo.

OLUJEANS : Pls introduce yourself.

OLUKOYA: I am Oladapo Olukoya Emmanual a graduate of Yaba College of Technology, discipline graphics, i also studied introduction to IBX at the Orange Academy.

OLUJEANS: This interview is about the Afromedia competition you won. What was your main idea for a green Nigeria.

OLUKOYA: When i heard the phrase " my green nigeria" it took me back in the days when i was young, we always had holidays at the village. I love it in the village because of the fresh air and coolness. I actually called it green then. That was where the inspiration came from,

then the execution of the visual. I realized that we human beings have a life circle with trees

and plants so that was the where the inspiration came from. Then the execution of the visual, i realized that we human being has a life circle with trees and plants, so i fused the two together which is plant and human being that is why you can see a leaf and face actually forming Nigeria flag so now the life circle is that we human beings breath out carbon-dioxide and breath- in oxygen while plants breath out oxygen and breath- in carbon-dioxide. So when you plant more trees, you are sure of good and fresh oxygen that's green and still ties along with fashola's campaign of "plant a tree today".

OLUJEANS: Brilliant. How long did it take you to come up with the idea.

OLUKOYA: Well , it took me say two weeks.

OLUJEANS: So what is the next step for Olukoya.

OLUKOYA: Well, right now i am on a clothing project, building a fashion warehouse which i completed last week. I resigned to stay focused on the business and want to be the best fashion designer in the world. But for now i am into designing, fashion, and merchandising.

OLUJEANS: I am sure the journey so far hasn't been easy, any words of encouragement for aspiring designers.

OLUKOYA: Well, just like 2face said, keep on believing in yourself, keep on depending on nobody, keep on discovering urself, keep on to know that your health if ur wealth and keep on knowing that your destiny is in your hand.

OLUJEANS: Thanks so much mr olukoya.

OLUKOYA: Thanks mr Olumide.

VOTE FATAI ADEWALE TODAY!

2011-02-20T07:19:00.000-08:00

Hi people, a friend of mine needs some votes, Adewale fatai is a PRO painter with specialties in oil and acrylic his words "pls i nd u to give me a vote on this link for a contest

http://www.saatchionline.com/showdown/match/showdown/4/artist/97331/art/657256 and kindly ask your friends to do same, its all about d highest votes, thanks". so START VOTING FAM! :-)

ILLUSTRATION IN MOTION- MO

2011-02-17T12:06:00.000-08:00

This is another area of graphics and illustration i am hoping will fully gain popularity on our shores, i have to give it to the director and the creative brains behind this, cool stuff!I call it illustration in motion, and we will indeed move on. Thumbs up to Mo. High quality.

Misery - Maroon 5 (With Lyrics)

2011-02-16T20:34:00.000-08:00

SOME COOL VECTORS - SEE WHAT I MEAN.

2011-02-16T05:20:00.000-08:00

VECTOR ILLUSTRATION - AN END IN ITSELF

2011-02-16T04:55:00.000-08:00

I think there are lot of things we are not properly taught in schools (art schools in particular) and its that every art form can be an end in itself and not always a means to the end and shuld . Take drawing for example, most artists take the initial sketches made as a means to the end which is the work done on the final ground (canvas or whatever) when even the skethces are as valuable and expressive as the final painting.

Vector illustrations is my focus here. Most designers see them as a means to an end, ironically these artworks are final designs from an illustrator somewhere and are usually thematic, so why will someone use a vector illustration for another design, i am not saying we cant borrow some parts of it to complete our designs but totally distorting and converting it to something else is disheartning really. Thats someone's hardwork being abused, i honesty think we don't realise that vector illustration is a career on its own and shuld be respected as such, cos' there are professional vector illustrators as there are graphic designers. I rest my case :-).

I did the above design 2 yrs ago, i made the vector earlier, then just added the name when i got the brief.

Creating a buzz, starting a trend - THE TIPPING POINT

2011-02-14T09:07:00.000-08:00

I read this book last year, and sometimes i feel i know so much about marketing and creating buzzes already, this book (A masterpiece) breaks down the factors neccesary for starting a trend, creating an epidemic, starting a buzz and generally influencing a large number of people to either start or stop something. it gives examples of real events that had global impact in history and how they really started, for example how the hush puppies shoes became popular among the youth in the 80's and a whole lot more. It will help marketing folks know precisely what influences people to buy a particular product or why a product sells faster than others. its a good book for every and anyone who wants to influence people for a particular purpose. get one.

Naeto C - 10 over 10 (I LIKE)

2011-02-11T22:45:00.000-08:00

SOFTWARES, HARDWORK!

2011-02-11T21:11:00.000-08:00

If your graphics PC were a car, then the softwares are the fuel that should keep the engine running. You may wish to call it FREE advertisement, but the fact remains that most designers depend solely on coreldraw and photoshop for their graphic expressions. A few more adventurous ones have added AI and others for whatever sake. Okay that said, the deal is how current is what you use? it will amaze you that in this day and age many "designers" still use corel 8 and photoshop 5 honestly! thats like tryin to use a nokia 3310 to surf the net or view pictures.

It's funny, but some designers are just dogmatic, not willing to learn new things or telling you something like "they are all the same Jor" really! do you know that software programmers are daily researching ways to make softwares faster and easier, they have even enhanced the capabilities of the softwares due to competition. corel draw X5 for example has supporting softwares that could keep you working without switching to photoshop or any other software, especially for illustrators, there are more tools, more interesting patterns and a faster link to corel trace and the rest. it is definitely upgraded, and thats what i use (was a bit reluctant tho) but am glad i did.

As we all know, nothing beats photoshop in picture manipulation and some effizy, the CS4 and 5 are still favourites especially now that adobe seems to have aquired almost every software brand in the market, its still a one-stop package for web, photo editing, and if you just love looking for trouble with other peoples pictures. i recommend both of them.

WHAT IS GRAPHICS WITHOUT THE RIGHT TOOLS?

2011-02-11T12:15:00.000-08:00

I used to disregard a lot of things as relates to design, graphics design in particular, (not anymore) especially when i found out my real limitations were the tools i used. I started graphics with some systems i can only describe as half alive/dead. So naturally my designs were "questionable" coupled with my dependence on mischievously sourced softwares that work when they feel like, and crash a day before your presentation either corrupting your files or just preventing you from a smooth flow of work. Well that was then.

On a more serious note, most designers don't realize that some PC's are specially designed for graphics and others just for entertainment. The problem comes when there is a mix up about this fact. I see designers using "toys" they call PCs to do serious graphics work, computers that have low memory in the first place and are then loaded with all the games in the world and still used as graphics workstations. If you are one of em... what can i say. I am oppurtuned to use an HP elitebook where i work, and i can tell the difference, with a large monitor to assist, the possibilities are endless. About the large monitors, that is a topic for another day. Try getting one of these displayed and your life will never be the same, Amen!

TRANSPARENT ME!

2011-02-09T01:55:00.000-08:00

So there is no confusion, this is OLUJEANS . if you come across any other, be suspicious! :-)