African artist riffs on Van Gogh in historic exhibition in Amsterdam
Nigerian artist John Madu’s exhibition ‘Paint Your Path’ is the first solo exhibition by an African artist at Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum
Expressive brushstrokes depict a man seated at a table, his face hidden behind a book of Japanese prints, a plastic chair in the corner and a Nigerian passport lying on the table.
It is one of 10 new paintings by Nigerian artist John Madu, created for “Paint Your Path” – the first solo exhibition by an African artist at Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum.
Madu, 42, produced the 10 works for the exhibition - which opened on May 30 - in just three months in his Lagos studio, each responding to one of seven paintings by the Dutch master.
“Before I even knew who Van Gogh was, I knew about his work,” he said, recalling how, as a child, he admired his father’s calendars filled with Impressionist art.
“Van Gogh’s works actually stuck out to me because of the yellows, the swirls, the strokes.”
Madu plays on the global familiarity of Van Gogh’s work to build connections between local and universal themes, notably through self-portraiture and the use of symbols.