Saheed Pratt: Woodcuts from the 1980s

Born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, Saheed Pratt is a master story–teller who draws from his rich Yoruba cultural heritage as well as a cosmopolitan consciousness to create work that explores themes of memory, history, migration and the passage of time through the filter of personal experience. His work expertly exploits the ambiguities arising between darkness and radiance, abstraction and figuration as well as the intriguing play between formal intention and narrative potential. His rich complex composition draws on the visual traditions of concepts or figures in Yoruba cosmology and mythology as well as modern art in a manner that is neither superficial nor eclectic, but rooted firmly in his belonging to both cultures. He is a firm believer in the notion that modern artists in the African continent must dig deep into fertile soil with implement of creativity, he is aware of the creative process as a restless engagement with fleeting properties and strives to convey to the viewer the physical and mental engagement of the artist in his work. He is a widely exhibited artist whose work is in several collections at home and abroad.