King of Sleeves : Interview with Ghariokwu Lemi

Wow! Goddammit!" Fela Anikulapo Kuti was reported to have shouted when he first saw his work.This online interview was with the Nigerian artist and illustrator Lemi Ghariokwu most renowned for the album covers and sleeves designs especially for the music legend Fela Kuti.

Who is Ghariokwu Lemi ? How would you describe yourself ?

Ghariokwu Lemi, is a a self taught Nigerian Fine Artist, Graphic Designer, Illustrator and Songwriter, world famous for his captivating and intricate record sleeves, never failing to give life to lyrics through his pictorial images. He is most renowned for providing many of the original cover images for the recordings of Nigerian musician Fela Kuti. His work involves a variety of styles, often using vibrant colours and individuated typefaces of his own design. More than 2,000 album covers have been designed by Lemi in the last 36 years, including covers for Bob Marley, E. T. Mensah, Osita Osadebe, Mandators, Orits Williki, Gilles Peterson, Sony Okosuns, Oliver De Coque, Miriam Makeba, Lucky Dube, Antibalas, Akoya Afrobeat, Dele Sosimi, Tony Tetuila, Eedris Abdulkareem, 2face Idibia...etc.

One would say his art is rebellion, comical, political, even erotic but most of all he is a genius in pictorial narration. Observer Music Magazine (Guardian, UK) called him “King of Covers” in 2004

Many of Ghariokwu's cover images echo and sometimes comment on the work and politics of the recordings that they accompany, serving a consciously integrated meta-textual function. Ghariokwu's approach to his work with Kuti involved listening to and digesting the music and then expressing his reaction in his paintings, design and comments which provide a high level of detail on the many album covers he delivered.

Ghariokwu's work has attracted much attention in the West and is the subject of various retrospective exhibitions. He is on Phaidon Press’ list of 100 emerging and influential graphic designers in the world. His painting Anoda Sistem, created in 2002, is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MOMA). He holds a dual lifetime membership of the museum.

In July 2003, he participated in "BLACK PRESIDENT: THE ART AND THE LEGACY OF FELA ANIKULAPO KUTI" in NYC, contributing 13 pieces of work all originals. On this trip the President of MTV, commissioned Ghariokwu to paint his first painting on American soil, “EVERYBODY’S GOTTA BE SOMEBODY” which then inspired film maker Aaron Koenigsberg to follow Ghariokwu around New York and visually document Ghariokwu’s trip.

Ghariokwu is constantly exhibiting and holding workshops around the globe as he sees the world as his oyster and aims to leave a lasting legacy in his own style of art.

He just recently in June 2010 was commissioned and successfully branded FELA-BUS, a sort of marketing mural-on-wheels for the producers of the hit Broadway musical “FELA!” in New York.

That was awesome ! I remember having a chat with you sometime in 2005 at the London Barbican during a Fela exhibition programme. You were quite peeved at that time that such a show could be organized without you being invited. Do you still feel that way ? And I am curious to learn how the organisers reacted.

Wow, the Barbican thing is gone into antiquity by now! Yes true, I was peeved then and my manager advised I withdraw my works from the Black President tour. The organizers didn‘t find it funny after I did and I had to face the backlash of my action for a while, you know. I learnt some lessons from that, surely.

Upside Down

Who and what would you consider the greatest influence to your life and art ? :

Everyday movement of people, contributions and impact of the works of great leaders of thoughts garnished with my own rationale greatly influence my life and Art. I was born with my Pan-African consciousness and it was fortuitous to get to learn about Malcolm X, Kwame Nkrumah and to meet Fela Kuti and work with him and get to meet and admire Peter Tosh. I have influences from all those mentioned and maybe Fela has inspired me more directly having had the great opportunity to have interacted with him one on one. As for influence, it doesn’t run too deep with me because I’m a resolute and always have my own way of life and strong views. People a lot of times tend to miscontrue what influence means. Been particular sometimes misleads. For example long before I started my art career, I loved and greatly admired the cover art of Roger Dean, a British artist who designed the logo and covers for YES, a rock group and OSIBISA, an African pop group. But to this day, I have never been influenced by my love and respect for Roger Dean’s cover art! Then listen to this. I remember seeing the cover of Parliament’s Funkadelia album in the early seventies and loving it and never got to know the artist’s name until about 30 years later. And interestingly some reviewers say my style seem similar. Is that what you call influence? I have actually answered your question first time, but it seem you want some juice!!! [laughs]

How separate are you from your art?:

Separate just enough to keep my sanity, remain focused and not become bohemian! My art is my life and my life is my art. Yes my art expresses my life, dreams, hopes and aspirations or the very lack of it all.

How much have you learned from other artists ?:

I have learned a thing or two from other artists as much as to the degree of how I love their works. As you may know my style is eclectic. This is because I learnt from observations and never underwent formal training. I learnt my bits from here and there and added all that to my own originality.

What would you consider the biggest mistake you have ever made ?:

I don’t believe in biggest mistake or regret or any of that sort of thing. Life is a continuum and every mistake is a lesson learnt in life and I take all with an equal pinch of salt. I don’t acknowledge any regrets whatsoever.

What message are you trying to pass to people through your art?:

My message is for everyone to discover their inherent qualities and harness whatever gifts and talents they have been endowed with. As for Africans, we need to rediscover our lost heritage and emancipate our selves from mental slavery, This is what I mean about self discovery and mental liberation.

Ghariokwu Lemi's web links:

www.myspace.com/ghariokwulemi
www.facebook.com/ghariokwulemi
www.artsownkind.wordpress.com
http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/ArtsandCulture/Art/5486165-147/sto...
http://www.vimeo.com/8011482