For almost three decades, Moses Oghagbon has concentrated his efforts towards painting Argungu, an emirate wedged upon the Sokoto River in Kebbi, Northern Nigeria. Historically, depictions of Argungu rarely veered further than the singular lens of its renowned fishing festival, paying little regard to its visual ethnography. With his sharpened sense of colour and atmosphere, Oghagbon has countered convention, by bringing to the fore, the customs of this civilization, in relation to its landscape.
Reminiscent of prominent English painter John Constable (1776-1837), who earned respect by revisiting Dedham Vale, the landscape he knew best throughout his lifetime, Oghagbon developed an affinity for Argungu, his wife Fatima’s birthplace, which he started compulsively visiting in 1999, also engaging in its ways of life.
Through his work, the ephemeral qualities of light are observed. From the sun breaking through clouds and filtering the barren branches of baobab trees, to the way it casts long shadows on laden donkeys, as they journey towards the town of Kamba. Arguably, Oghagbon’s most alluring trick, is how he conjures within the viewer, the moral feelings of nature at sunset. Employing acrylic and oil, he achieves a depth of colour that enhances the transient mood of his paintings.