Wheatbaker marks anniversary with exhibition

There will be a three-month long art exhibition to commemorate the fifth anniversary of The Wheatbaker, hotel, Lagos. At the anniversary briefing, The Wheatbaker Chairman, Bernard Longe said as Nigeria’s premiere luxury boutique hotel, it has consistently tried to promote the Nigerian brand especially in the in the area of arts, culture and other forms […]

There will be a three-month long art exhibition to commemorate the fifth anniversary of The Wheatbaker, hotel, Lagos.
At the anniversary briefing, The Wheatbaker Chairman, Bernard Longe said as Nigeria’s premiere luxury boutique hotel, it has consistently tried to promote the Nigerian brand especially in the in the area of arts, culture and other forms of creativities which he said Nigeria has numerous potentials in.
“And to mark our fifth anniversary celebration, we are putting on display ‘Freedom,’ an exhibition of 39 paintings and sculptures by Gbenga Offo, which complement the hotel’s growing art collection of works by leading Nigerian artists including Peju Alatise, Rom Isichei, Olu Amoda, Mike Omoighe, Duke Asidere and Gerald Chukwuma,” Longe said. 
The hotel’s General Manager, Simon Grindrod also said since inception, the hotel has supported art exhibitions, film screenings, dance and poetry performances, fashion shows, music concerts and yearly art auctions in an effort to use its platform “to make Lagos one of the hottest African art hubs.”
A director at the hotel, Mosun Ogunbanjo also expressed delight on their contributions to the growth of arts in Nigeria.
“We are proud to have created a dynamic platform for international and local artists to experiment and present, new creative expressions. We will continue to ensure that despite Nigeria’s current economic recession, The Wheatbaker provides quality services and strengthens creativity and innovation,” Ogunbanjo said.
The hotel’s art curator, Sandra Mbanefo-Obiago said ‘Freedom’ is Offo’s first exhibition with metal sculptures, iconic cubist paintings, abstract splash paintings and detailed sketches that depict artist responding to vital global issues such as migration, human rights, music, love and unity.
Offo, on his part remarked that the choice of the exhibition’s title: ‘Freedom’ encapsulates his artistic journey.
“I started off as a graphic designer, then I was at a newspaper house before moving into the advertising industry. In all of these years, I was always seeking to express myself independently because of the love I have for visual arts. I want to be me and don’t want to be tied down to one specific area and that is the reason my works cut across every genre of art,” Offo said.