Object Details
- Label Text
- The four screens in the museum's collection were commissioned by Waldemar Nielsen, past president of the African-American Institute. The first screens sculpted for Nielsen were horizontal and proved unsuccessful on site. Akanji's second set used a vertical format. These screens, backed by frosted glass, formed a wall dividing Nielsen's garden from a busy New York City street.
- The screens depict contemporary life in Oshogbo--a man pumping gas, a drummer and a dancer, women going to market or to the shrine. The recurring motif of the car may refer specifically to the distinctive red Citroen Ulli Beier, a major patron and motivating force behind the Oshogbo school, often drove around Oshogbo. Or, it may represent the modern version of the equestrian image, which is associated with the speed and sound of the thunder god Shango.
- The constraints of cement, which needs to be reinforced, may have greatly influenced Akanji's decision to arrange the figures into registers--a visual element found on traditional Yoruba palace doors.
- Description
- Rectangular cement screen with 2 openwork registers, both showing a man driving an open sided triangular bodied car. The cars face in opposing directions.
- Provenance
- Waldemar A. Nielsen, New York, ca. 1966 to 1994
- Exhibition History
- Afro Modern: Journeys through the Black Atlantic, Tate Liverpool, January 29-April 25, 2010
- Century City: Art and Culture in the Modern Metropolis, Tate Museum, London, February 1-April 29, 2001
- A Concrete Vision: Oshogbo Art in the 1960s, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., January 23-October 22, 2000
- Published References
- National Museum of African Art. 2000. A Concrete Vision: Oshogbo Art in the 1960s. Exhibition booklet. Washington, D.C: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, front cover.
- Content Statement
- As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
- Image Requests
- High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
- Data Source
- National Museum of African Art
- Maker
- Adebisi Akanji, born 1930s, Nigeria
- Date
- ca. 1966
- Credit Line
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Waldemar A. Nielsen
- Medium
- Cement, metal
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 157.5 × 101 cm, 158.8 kg (62 × 39 3/4 in., 350 lb.)
- Other (framed): 163.2 × 112 × 10.2 cm (64 1/4 × 44 1/8 × 4 in.)
- Type
- Sculpture
