Juliet Ezenwa Pearce
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| Juliet Ezenwa Pearce | |
|---|---|
| File:Juliet-ezenwa.jpegjuliet-ezenwa.jpeg Juliet Ezenwa Pearce | |
| Born | 30th July 1968 Benin City |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| 👩 Spouse(s) | Adewale Maja-Pearce |
Juliet Ezenwa Pearce (born 30 July 1968), is a Nigerian visual artist. Originally known for her watercolours, she subsequently diversified into oil, acrylic, pastel, mixed-media and print-making.[1]
Early life[edit]
Pearce was born in Benin City. As a toddler, she was always in the care of her grandmother, who practiced the traditional art of uli, the curvilinear, generally abstract traditional designs drawn by women in south-eastern Nigeria and either stained onto the body or painted onto the sides of buildings as murals. Her grandmother allowed her to paint a portion of the mud walls while she herself worked on the major walls. It was during these early years that she developed her interest in art.[2]
She attended Federal Government Girls’ College, Benin from where she gained admission into Bendel State University (now Delta State University), Abraka. Under the tutelage of Prof Osa D. Egonwa, she acquired her distinct use of dark earth colours usually favoured by students of the uli movement.
[[Image:juliet-ezenwa.jpeg|thumb|left|Photo caption]]
Career[edit]
After graduating in 1990, she went to Auchi to work with Sam Ovraiti, the celebrated watercolourist, as his apprentice and artist-assistant, understudying his use of brilliant colours (which was synonymous with the Auchi School), and eventually becoming his personal assistant. This position accorded her the much-needed space and time to practice her art, in the course of which she held two consecutive solo exhibitions: Faces (1996) and Memories (1997). In 1998, she attempted to organise the first Abuja Fine Arts Bazaar, which was held at the Abuja Council for Arts and Culture.
In 2000, she left Sam Ovraiti Services to become a full-time independent studio artist. As such, she had more time for her personal and professional development and began partnering with NGOs. Her passion for human rights, especially as they affect the girl–child, drew her close to Project Alert and Echoes of Women in Africa, both of which sought to deal with domestic violence and youth development. According to the curator Luciano Uzuegbu, ‘alongside a few other artists including Peju Layiwola, Ndidi Dike, Angela Isiuwe, and Odun Orimolade, Juliet’s over 27 years of illustrious practice ranks her amongst the few top females with such enduring dexterity that continually measures the depth of contemporary visual language in Nigeria, and proudly challenges what appears a male dictated milieu.’[3] Indeed, her 2019 solo exhibition was entitled Overcoming Misogyny; as she herself likes to quote: ‘Misogyny has everything to do with alerting us to codes of practice that legitimise the systemic humiliation of women. Evidence of misogynistic acts is often invisible, ignored or covered up by both the powers that be and the victims.’ [4]
Since 2007, she has been a regular participant at the annual Harmattan Workshop run by the Dr Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation and subsequently became a facilitator in the print-making section in 2012. She has since delved into experimental print-making.
She is a member of the Guild of Professional Fine Artists of Nigeria, Society of Nigerian Artists, Female Artists’ Association of Nigeria, Business and Professional Women International, and Art Gallery Owners’ Association of Nigeria (organisers of Art-Expo Nigeria).
In 2019, she was the subject of a documentary by Tam Fiofori, the biographer of Sun Ra (whose music features in it), which was filmed by Filip Drozdz, the award-winning Polish cinematographer.
Residencies[edit]
2016: Ebedi International Writers Residency, Iseyin, Oyo State, Nigeria
2016: Kunstort Eleven ArtSpace, Borstingen, Starzarch Germany
2017: Olaudah Artists Winter Retreat, Meaux Paris, France
Personal Life[edit]
She is married to Adewale Maja-Pearce, the Anglo-Nigerian writer, and divides her time between Lagos, Nigeria and Swansea, UK.[3]
Published works[edit]
(ed.) Issues in Contemporary Nigerian Art (First Series), Lagos: The New Gong, 2015
(ed.) Issues in Contemporary Nigerian Art (Second Series), Lagos: The New Gong, 2020
Exhibitions[edit]
Solo exhibitions[edit]
1996: Faces, Russian Cultural Centre, Lagos
1997: Memories, Rockview Hotel, Abuja
2001: The Maiden Dance, Galleria Romania, Ikoyi, Lagos
2003: Lost Innocence, Quintessence Art Gallery, Lagos
2003: Moonlight Rhapsody, Cultural Centre, Abuja
2004: Reflections, French Cultural Centre, Lagos
2011: Paintergraph, Kings Theatre, Portsmouth, UK
2012: Migrations, Nike Art Gallery, Lagos
2018: Beyond, National Museum, Lagos
2019: Overcoming Misogyny, National Museum, Lagos
Group Exhibitions[edit]
1995: Nigerian Contemporary Art Exhibition, Nigerian Copyright Commission and World Intellectual Property Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
2000: Women about Women, Goethe Institute, Lagos
2000: Female Genital Mutilation in Nigeria: the suffering, the sorrow, the setback, Palace of Westminster, London
2002: Changing Attitudes: African Heritage 2002, 4th Biennale of the Pan African Circle of
Artists, Lagos
2006: First Annual Watercolour Exhibition, Watercolour Society of Nigeria, Terra Kulture,
Lagos
2009: 2nd Annual Art-Expo Nigeria, National Museum, Lagos
2009: October Rain, Society of Nigeria Artists, National Museum Lagos
2010: 3rd Lagos International Art-Expo, National Museum, Lagos
2014: Art for Peace, African Union Conference, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
2015: Transcending Boundaries, African Art Exhibition, Aabru Art London UK
2016: Strength and Vulnerability (an exhibition of new works by Sam Ebohon,Sam Ovraiti and
Juliet Ezenwa Maja-Pearce), Aabru Art, London, UK
2017: Annual Exhibition, Guild of Professional Fine Artists of Nigeria, Terra Kulture, Lagos
2018: Parallax Art Fair, Kensington Town Hall, London, UK
2018: Art Alliance 51, Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1 September 2018. Michael Jimoh: ‘Lessons from Grandma,’ Global Harmony,
- ↑ nigeriang.com Nigeriang.com
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 6 September 2018. Uzor Maxim Uzoatu: ‘Juliet Ezenwa Pearce: Goddess of Masks,’ TheNewsNigeria,
- ↑ 31 July 2019. Tajudeen Sowole: ‘Ezenwa Maja-Pearce’s painterly activism in Overcoming Misogyny,’ The Guardian.
External links[edit]
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