Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Thornwood Gallery presents: Onyeka Ibe

By Pegasus News wire

March 29th, 2008 marks the beginning of the solo show for Onyeka Ibe at the Thornwood Gallery located in Dallas.

Image provided by Thornwood Gallery

Onyeka Ibe, "Village Barn"

Onyeka Ibe (pronounced ebay) from Eastern, Nigeria was recently named as one of “Today’s Top Artist” by Art Business News. Ibe’s love for art began during his childhood days in Africa when his father, an artist himself, would let him sit in his studio and watch him paint. Upon arriving in America, Ibe continued to follow his dream of making it as an artist in America by aggressively pursuing his career.

Thornwood Gallery began exhibiting Ibe’s work in 2006 after reading about him in several art publications Ibe’s work has been well received, making him one of the gallery’s best selling artist.

“The show for Ibe is well overdue as he we have had phenomenal success with him at our gallery in the short time we’ve known him,” said Zelma Legendre. “He is a very talented artist that really knows how to engage people to feel the immense emotion he pours into every painting he creates.”

The show will begin on kick off on March 29th at 6 P.M.. Guest can expect to see Ibe’s artist video which features scenes from gallery shows and depicts the immense support and interest that Ibe has generated throughout the art industry.

“I am very excited and have been looking forward to the show, particularly because I love the city of Dallas,” said Ibe. “In anticipation of an awesome show, I have worked very hard to produce new paintings and am fortunate to have Zelma working relentlessly to ensure the success of the show.”

Throughout his art career, Ibe has always remained true to his African roots by depicting many images and sceneries from his childhood days in the village. His other passions include furthering art education in schools and encouraging kids to express themselves through art.

“Ibe is a great artist and an even better person because he has a positive attitude about everything,” said Zelma Legendre. “I am completely inspired by his story of his journey from Africa to America to pursue his dreams of making it as an artist because he represents what the American dream is all about.”

Ibe works out of his home studio in Atlanta and describes his art as heavily color oriented. Working mostly with oil colors, Ibe uses his palette knife to generate the color harmonies he senses.

Image provided by Thornwood Gallery

Onyeka Ibe "Silent Thought" oil on canvas

About Onyeka Ibe

Onyeka Ibe has achieved international recognition for his dramatic approach to painting. Described as the most exciting young painter to emerge from Sub-Saharan Africa since the 1990s, he was awarded “The Best SOLO Artist of the Year 2006” at Artexpo New York. Ibe looks for inspiration in “natural and humanistic traditions of contemporary realism and abstraction.” His paintings convey a spectrum of human emotions.

Ibe was born not long after the end of the Nigerian civil war and grew up in a developing democracy that was abruptly terminated. Violence became the order of the day. As a youth, Ibe realized that his artists’ sensibilities could move him in either of two directions -- either to fight back at such dehumanizing situations, or to escape inward by searching for elements that reflect humanity. He chose the latter.

Encouraged by his father, a painter himself, Ibe was introduced to drawing as a youth. He achieved success at the age of sixteen when he first exhibited at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Lagos, Nigeria. Ibe was quickly offered a full scholarship to study art at the high school. He went on to train at the University of Benin in Nigeria, earning first class honors (summa cum laude) in fine arts. After moving to the United States, he continued his education at Georgia State University.

Source: Thornwood Gallery

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