Some of the best things about putting on shows at Boys' Quarters are the studio visits. It's not easy being an artist in a city that does not really prize art: where there are very few museums or galleries and where there is not much of a market. Artists studios are one of the few places where art comes first and being in these spaces is both a relief and a pleasure. We regularly visited Johnson Uwadinma's studio in the Mile 4 area of Port Harcourt ahead of his show at Boys' Quarters and he took us through his space on one of our visits...




"I used to have live here so this is why I have a kitchen. When I got married the place felt too small. So I moved, but the kitchen kind of stayed. Usually I cook for myself. I come to work, take stock of what’s going on in the studio, work a little till about 11am-12noon before I take a little breakfast. Then I work some more, possibly take a nap, then I make lunch. Usually I bring soup from the house and when I am here I make garri and eat. Or sometimes it’s rice and beans and yam. Anything fast. I don’t eat a lot when I am working."

Above: Studio visit snack.

"This is the first room people enter in the studio. There’s a lot of alcohol here but I don’t drink it It’s really for guests and friends. I don’t stay on my own and drink but I will drink a little with friends. We take about art, challenges we’re facing, what’s happening, a little gossip, who is doing what show. Artists have to stick together in a place like Port Harcourt because we’re trying to grow the industry here. We feel that if we work together and have synergy we can make a bit more noise than if it is just individuals. We have the platform Society of Nigerian Artists, so we get to meet on that platform regularly. Then there are other platforms organized by Segun Aiyesan once in a while. That doesn’t have a name. We work on a projects together and that way we get to interact and learn from one another."


"Then there’s the Mangrove artists which formed in 2009. Then there was a lot of militancy in the Niger Delta and art industry was going down. A lot of the expatriates that patronized the artists were leaving. It was a downturn really for the Niger Delta. So we got together and tried to make a statement about what was happening. So we organized an exhibition in a gallery in Lagos in July 2010. It was quite successful.

"But I don’t have company very often. Even when my studio attendants are around I make sure they don’t stay around me or talk around me. They just have to find ways to be private with their own lives whilst I’m private with my own in the studio."



Above: A studio assistant one of the rooms. Below: Johnson's models wait for work to begin.



"I am happy with my space at the moment but I do wish for more space. I would like to expand in time. I feel a whole lot more comfortable in a studio than any other place. As soon as I pass through my studio gates, ideas just buzz into my head. I’ve got to do this, I’ve got to do that. The day just gets very busy and before you know it, it’s nightfall."



"When I was a bachelor this room [above] is where I used to sleep. But now this is where I store the paintings because I like to have space around me. I don’t like to see my old work so I make sure they’re where I can’t see them too much. Old work kind of hinders ideas coming in. They make me want to repeat them. So I have to hide them to think of something new. I do have some of my own artwork on the wall at home, though. It’s important for all artists to build on their private collection of their own works."



"This is the outside area. You can really hear the noise of the generator out here. Since March I have been without electricity in my studio. So I have to run my generator – which is noisy and expensive – just to get my work done. And yes I do do these weights. They help lift one's depression when you feel things aren’t happening. When you push weights it kind of feels like something is happening, even if it’s just inside your body! It lifts your spirit."



As told to Zina Saro-Wiwa. Photos by Dumnwii Fadeh and Zina Saro-Wiwa.

"Erasure" is now open till 7th March 2015, at Boys' Quarters Project Space, 24 Aggrey Road, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. www.boysquartersprojectspace.com/exhibitions/erasure/