Arte
Obi Agwam
Nthuts'i jar hä xkagentho, mundos pa Nugu̲je: Surrealismo animado ar Obi Agwam
hñä ya Teneshia Carr
'bu̲ ndehmä ñäñho, Obi Agwam ja ir wadi po̲ni ar Tube ne ár estudio Londres. Nu'ä 'naxtu̲i aturdido, bostezando constantemente, bajo — cafeína, and, Komo resulta, silenciosamente t'o̲t'e ár pa ntso̲ni je̲ya 26. "Acabo ar zo̲ho̲ ja ma espacio estudio hingi siquiera yoho ya t'olo ora," bí ride. "Di nuwa Nxoge 'ra 'nar je̲ya." Ar traslado Queens da prestigioso programa beca ar Royal Academy ge 'nar aceleración salvaje 'na medida. Pe pa Agwam, Velocidad ga̲tho ge menu dige ar suerte ne mäs dige ar claridad.
Dá jar Lagos ne criado jar Southside Jamaica, Queens, Agwam creció ja 'nar ximha̲i bí tanto hiper vivo ne fuertemente vigilado. Yá mengu bí mantuvo boleto pa ár Ntsuni, pe ar dähnini bí uts'i ar Ndäse̲ ngut'ä xudi. "Nuga̲ mi jar nju̲nu̲bo̲jä nu'bu̲ ngu 10, 11 Ya je̲ya," hmä. "Nu'i gí pe̲ts'i da uni esas habilidades real ngut'ä — komongu responsable, conmutación, komongu pädi xi hño ne consciente." mbo ja ar apartamento, ruta escape bí ja̲t'i. ko nthogi limitado jar ximha̲i exterior, bí enamoró ar dibujos animados ne ar animación. universos alternativos nä'ä bí sentía mäs brillante nä'ä ar justo fuera de ár ventana.
"empecé dibu̲i 'bu̲ ar aburrimiento," nä'ä gi mbeni. "ma entorno físico hingi mi particularmente estimulante, pe ya dibujos animados ofrecieron za̲ ár nthe̲ njohya nä'ä hingi obtería naturalmente. nja'bu da instantáneamente dá zu̲di komongu 'nar nt'ot'e mbo afrontamiento." nä'ä "'me̲ts'e mbo afrontamiento" silenciosamente construyó 'nar base: ar bätsi ndi dibujar jar nsa̲di, ar adolescente garabatos jar he̲'mi nt'ot'i, ar artista bätsitho Tobe hindi hyandi ar arte komongu 'nar 'ñu nzaki viable.
Nunu̲ cambio hingi zo̲ho̲ asta colegio jar hnini, after the Universities he initially wanted said no. "They forced me to buy my first paints," he says of an introductory painting course. "Before that, I had always just been drawing… It was just something to pass the time. In that class, they forced me to create artwork in a physical, ,tangible way, on canvas. And ever since that year, I just started making stuff."
2019 was the beginning. 2020 was the pandemic—24-hour access to his own imagination. "We're locked inside. I don't got nothing else to do," he shrugs. "So we're gonna paint." He began posting the work online without a plan, just consistency. Within a year, he had an audience; by 2021, he was showing in galleries in New York, Los Angeles, and London. In 2024, he mounted his first solo show at Harkawik in Manhattan. nu'bya, the Royal Academy.
If the timeline sounds improbable, Agwam is the first to resist the myth of sudden discovery. "I do believe in destiny," hmä, "but I also believe that people have their say on what's meant for them. People always say, 'If it's meant to be, it's meant to be,' but I think we have our own agency. I think with the right mindset, I could be an artist today, doctor tomorrow, astronaut the next day. With enough clarity and focus and intention, I think anything is possible."
That belief in agency shows up in the work itself—paintings populated by elastic, animated figures that seem to hover somewhere between cartoon, spirit, and memory. His imagery feels like a fever dream of Blackness: stretched limbs, rubbery expressions, worlds that vibrate with color and coded histories. "I lean into fantasy and surrealism and imagination," he explains. "A. r. It serves a purpose in self-soothing and just feeling better. i, m"
a, g. i, n, a, c, i. "�, 30�, n, Black people were depicted a certain way, m," hmä. "a, and also mix them with visual elements from modern cartoons and less offensive depictions of Black figures. I'm very, very, very concerned with bridging the gap between something that's illustrative and silly and fun, and something serious, high art."
His figures don't aim for realism. They aim for feeling. "It doesn't have to be hyper-realistic. It doesn't always have to be observational," he insists. "I always felt like I'm abstractly painting how I feel Black life feels, rather than what Black life looks like."
That distinction matters. In Agwam's universe, the Black figure is allowed to be elastic, weird, ecstatic, melancholy, and freed from the burden of legibility. The paintings function not just as images but as letters. He journals, meditates on specific memories, and uses those texts as prompts for each piece. Increasingly, ya hñä hä xkagentho suben ar superficie: sobres estampados, líneas escritas 'ye̲, fragmentos correspondencia. "nuya retratos ya komongu ya nthuts'i ma ngeki ne gem'bu̲ ya nthuts'i nä'ä xi leyendo ya," hmä. "Ar komongu ar memoria, animación, imaginación reuniendo jar nuna Nar dätä hño crisol."
'Nehe 'bu̲i 'nar johya johya jar Honja navega riesgo. Agwam xí na consciente ár fina 'ñu entre reclamar caricatura ne causar ngi. "Ge 'nar 'ñu delgada entre ya obras arte ofensivas ne hi'nä ofensivas," admite. "pe da 'yo equilibrio a través de probar ne fracasar. Hindi di realmente johya ko 'nar dätä xe̲ni ya obras arte da creo, pe comparto ya ga̲tho modos. getho ya 'nandi Honja tsa̲ pumbu̲ni pa Honja ma'ra ar sentirán dige nä'ä di 'bui."
Lei mäs jar hmä Issue 33