Bruce Onobrakpeya (1932) - Adumadan

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

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

This dense, chorale-like composition features an aggregation of stylized faces and busts, partly superimposed and oriented in different directions. The absence of conventional perspective, the repetition of hair motifs and adornments, and the internal movement of forms give the overall piece a rhythmic, collective reading, characteristic of the artist’s narrative explorations in the mid-1970s.
A central, more assertive face anchors the composition and acts as a visual focal point around which the other figures gravitate, suggesting reflection on collective memory, social identity, and community.

Technique
The work is created using the Ivorex plastograph technique, an experimental process developed by Bruce Onobrakpeya, located at the crossroads between intaglio, low relief, and relief printing on a rigid support.
Incised lines in light relief contrast with a dark, marbled, organic background typical of plastographs from that period. Unlike the many prints on paper more commonly seen, this work is executed on a rigid panel, forming a standalone piece with a strong material and wall presence.

Artistic context
Plastograph works from the 1970s–1976 mark a pivotal phase in Onobrakpeya’s career, during which he solidified 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 chorale, 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: antique frame
Inscriptions: work titled and dated within the composition
Condition: good overall condition, with patina and light signs of use consistent with age and technique

Interest for collectors
Ancient work (1970s)
Signature Bruce Onobrakpeya technique
Rigid support, rarer than paper prints
Narrative composition and immediately identifiable
Artist present in numerous international institutional collections

Note
This work fully aligns with Onobrakpeya’s major plastographic explorations and constitutes a top-tier piece for a collection of modern and contemporary African art.