Iké Udé’s The School of Nollywood To Be Unveiled at Les Rencontres de la Photographie (Arles Photo Festival) on July 4, 2016
New York, NY and Lagos, Nigeria (PRWEB) June 23, 2016 -- The School of Nollywood, a grand group portrait by critically acclaimed artist and style maven Iké Udé, of 64 Nollywood (Nigeria’s vibrant film industry) personalities will be unveiled at the prestigious Les Rencontres de la Photographie (Arles Photo Festival) on July 4, 2016. At once a reference to and departure from Rafael’s famous fresco, The School of Athens (1509), the picture is the same size as its inspiration, an imposing 5 meters by 7.7 meters. The exhibition will run till September 25, 2016.
Starting in the early 1990s, Nollywood has quickly gained worldwide relevance as the world’s second most prolific film industry (over 1,000 titles released each year) ahead of Hollywood and behind Bollywood with revenues topping $500 million annually. It is characterized by independent, cheap and quick filmmaking, meeting the demands of a continent for authentic stories that reflect the reality on the ground. An entrepreneurial rags-to-riches story, its producers are private individuals getting little or no assistance from government who make and distribute movies across the continent despite infrastructure deficiencies and barriers to trade.
In 2014 after over two decades away, Iké returned to Lagos, Nigeria, from New York City and took photos of 64 Nollywood personalities, capturing an impressive cross section of the industry including the legendary screen icon Genevieve Nnaji, established actor/director Stephanie Okereke and maverick filmmaker Kunle Afolayan as well as the next generation of rising stars.
The School of Nollywood is the centerpiece of a body of work, Nollywood Portraits: A Radical Beauty, including individual portraits of each of the subjects featured. An international touring exhibition of select individual pictures and The School of Nollywood will commence on October 20, 2016 at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago. Additionally, a coffee table book featuring all the portraits will be published by Milan-based Skira in the fall of 2016.
About the artist: Iké Udé was born in Nigeria in the 1960s and has lived in New York City, NY for over 3 decades during which time he has earned the reputation as a master portraitist. His work exhibits and is in the permanent collections in top museums and galleries worldwide including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Smithsonian Institution and the Stux Gallery. He is also author of Style Files: The World’s Most Elegantly Dressed published by Harper Collins in 2008.
Artist contact: Visit him on the Web at http://www.ikeude.com
Osahon Akpata, Blaring Horn, http://www.blaringhorn.com, +1 (347) 698-3230, [email protected]
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