Women of Dignity

Moyo Ogundipe was a contemporary painter, graphic illustrator and art teacher who was born in Nigeria in 1948. He obtained a BA in Fine Art and Art Education from the University of Ife, Ile-Ife in 1972. In the 1980s, out of anxiety and fear for the state of the nation, Moyo fled the country to the US due to the travails of the dictatorship of the military regime at the time. He obtained a MA in Fine Arts degree, majoring in Painting from The Hoffberger School of Painting, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore. He eventually settled in Denver in 2002 and spent some time teaching painting and drawing, as an adjunct instructor, at the University of Colorado, Denver. Despite his relocation, Moyo never lost touch with home as his art was centered on his indigenous Yoruba heritage and believes using western techniques of representation. As a child in Nigeria, he was sent to Christian schools surrounded by villages by his parents, thus growing up in an environment that was filled with both western and African influences which gave him what he called the “hybrid experience”, which became instrumental in his formal representations and style. His works have been exhibited extensively in Nigeria and across Europe and America.

The Women of Dignity portrays two women with markedly long necks, wide eyes and large, round heads whose sizes are disproportionate to the size of their body. The painting symbolic as it embodies the unique, non-naturalistic style of representation in African art. As common on Moyo’s works, one sees an explosion/rich usage of different colours – yellow, blue, white, brown, green, orange and black. The textural patterns all over the painting are inspired by the patterns commonly found on the Yoruba textitle. The patterns were etched as a decorative composition after the painting was done on the canvas. The piece seeks to celebrate African women and the pride of womanhood.