What does being an artist mean to you?

To me being an artist means being a psychologist, to me being an artist means being a sociologist, to me being an artist means being an activist. The chiefest of them all is being Immortal.

As an artist, I believe we don’t die. We only transcend into time. We are here to live forever. This means that the message behind our art keeps living after we are gone. It keeps impacting lives after we are gone. The memories of us cannot be forgotten.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

My name is Samson Bakare, I am from Lagos, Nigeria. I live and work in Lagos. I am a stylized figurative artist. This means that my art is a mixture of stylization and figures. I draw perspective from the eastern orthodox scultpic art.

When you see those sculptic art from Egypt, and places like Libya. I was inspired by what I saw there, the forms, how they appear in comical renditions. So I decided to do that, and that’s how I arrived here.

I began the journey into my style of art, because I was tired of convention. I was tired of being boxed up, I use to be a representational artist, and I was tired at looking at a model and representing the model the way they appear.

I was like I can’t continue this way, I started looking for something idealistic with me, and that’s how I arrived at stylized figurative art.

What is the message behind your art?

The first message in my art is Black elevation. I’m not just talking about the emancipation of Black people. Sometimes my works dates back to the 18th century, and 17th century when you look at the setting. I paint through the Elizabethan period, and the Victorian period.  Some times I capture scenes from the events of the trans Atlantic slave trade, how Black families use to look like.

When I was going through old photographs, I see Black people in derogated positions, in less prestigious positions. This ought not to be. So I decided to depict Black people in my paintings, in a royal manner which we are. I keep on saying my art is a time machine through which we can journey to the past, we can build the present, and take a look at the future from the same stand point.

So if my art is a time machine, I am referencing the past on how Black people were looked at. I am bringing it to this present reality, in order for us to have a new look of what the future holds for us. So we can stand in the gap.