Unit London is excited to announce the opening of the next exhibition in the Platform series. Edozie Anedu’s solo show is now live in our online viewing room (click here to view).
The Platform exhibition series provides a space for artists to engage with topical social, political and cultural issues. In line with the core values of the Platform programme, 10% of all sales proceeds will be donated to a charity or non-profit organisation of the artist’s choosing. Edozie Anedu’s nominated charity is Street Project Foundation, based in Lagos, Nigeria. Using the arts as a tool, the project aims to create a cross-cultural dialogue while helping young people find employment and social mobility.
Anedu is a self-taught artist based in Benin City, Nigeria. He works with mixed media to create abstracted imagery that references graffiti and mural art traditions. Anedu’s work centres on popular culture, exploring music, fashion, socio political ideologies and the human experience. The artist’s latest body of work, Allegory, which he presents for his Platform exhibition, is an exploration of semiotics, examining how meaning is made and communicated. These ideas stem from Anedu’s experience growing up in the Catholic church, surrounded by religious iconography. As a result, the artist became increasingly conscious of the connection between symbolism and the progression of doctrine.
Hold the Fort for I am Coming, 2021, Acrylic on canvas, 150 cm x 150 cm
Allegory, therefore, strives to question and challenge these beliefs that have long gone accepted and unexamined. The artist’s gestural and energetic canvases investigate his own childhood memories, borrowing recognised imagery from popular culture. The use of almost childlike brushstrokes and simply rendered figures reflect the artist’s own coming of age narrative. The artworks themselves are heavily influenced by Plato’s Cave Allegory with each canvas serving as a representation of a ‘contemporary cave’. Altogether, the series acts as a process of self-reflection and widening perspectives, commenting on the rewarding act of personal introspection.