Bruce Onobrakpeya (1932) - Adumadan

Bruce Onobrakpeya (Nigeria, born 1932)
Adumadan, 1975
Ivorex plastograph on panel – Experimental period

Description of the work
Created in 1975, Adumadan is an important work by Bruce Onobrakpeya, foundational figure of Nigerian modern and contemporary art and historic member of the Zaria Movement.

This dense, choral composition features an aggregation of stylized faces and busts, partially superimposed and oriented in various directions. The absence of conventional perspective, the repetition of hairstyles and adornments, and the internal flow of forms give the whole a rhythmic, collective reading, characteristic of the artist’s narrative explorations in the mid-1970s.
A central, more assertive face structures the composition and acts as a visual anchor around which the other figures gravitate, suggesting reflection on collective memory, social identity, and community.

Technique
The work is realized using the Ivorex plastograph technique, an experimental process developed by Bruce Onobrakpeya, at the crossroads of intaglio, relief, and impression on a rigid support.
The incised lines in light relief contrast with a dark, marbled, and organic background, typical of plastographs from this period. Unlike the many works on paper, this piece is executed on a mounted rigid panel, forming an autonomous, highly tactile and wall-ready object.

Artistic context
Plastographic works from the 1970s–1976 mark a pivotal phase in Onobrakpeya’s career, during which he consolidates his experimental visual vocabulary while developing more narrative and symbolic compositions.
Adumadan fully illustrates this period: less monumental than some later works from the 1980s, but more introspective and choral, it constitutes a historically relevant milestone in the artist’s stylistic evolution.

Details
Artist: Bruce Onobrakpeya (Nigeria, born 1932)
Title: Adumadan
Date: 1975
Technique: Ivorex plastograph
Support: rigid panel
Presentation: old frame
Inscriptions: title and date within the composition
Condition: good overall state, with patina and light signs of use consistent with age and technique

Interest for collectors
Old work (1970s)
Signature technique of Bruce Onobrakpeya
Rigid support, rarer than paper prints
Narrative composition and immediately identifiable
The artist is represented in numerous international institutional collections

Note
This work fully embodies Onobrakpeya’s major plastographic explorations and is a standout piece for a collection of African modern and contemporary art.