The Nigerian British artist Karimah Ashadu was walking around the streets of Lagos, Nigeria, a few years ago when something caught her eye. The city was full of men, she noticed, riding motorcycles in surprisingly flashy outfits. The riders, illegal motorcycle-taxi operators known as “okada,” plied their trade while dressed in knockoffs of brands like Gucci, which they combined with odd accessories like blocky sunglasses.
“They were iconic,” Ashadu, 40, said recently. For her, the men were symbols of a quest for self-sufficiency that she sees as central to Nigerian identity. “These guys were so resourceful,” she said, even though they “don’t seem to have much.”
After paying off some local gang members, Ashadu — who had previously made films about workers in sawmills, abattoirs and open-air mines — persuaded the riders to perform stunts and show off their outfits for her camera. The resulting nine-minute video, “Machine Boys,” premiered at the Venice Biennale last year. It was a breakthrough moment for the artist.
The non-narrative film, which also features the motorcycle riders telling personal stories in lyrical voice-over, earned Ashadu the coveted Silver Lion for a Promising Young Artist at the prestigious event. On Friday, she will open her first institutional solo show with new work since she won the prize, at Camden Art Center in London. The exhibition looks set to cement her reputation as a major international artist and an incisive observer of contemporary Africa.
Ashadu, who splits her time between Hamburg, Germany, and Lagos, said in her bright, cluttered Hamburg studio that she aimed to offer a “neutral” perspective on labor in Nigeria, freed from the post-colonial baggage that is often imposed on depictions of Black workers.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The post She Sees Beauty in Black Men at Work. She Won’t Apologize for That. appeared first on New York Times.
