The Examination Of The Black Male Identity By Timothy Ogu (Visual Art)
In just over five years, visual artist Timothy Ogu has made his way from Swindon’s Sunday Leagues to creating content for global brands, from Adidas & Puma to English Heritage and some of the UK’s hottest emerging artists - all whilst gracing the walls of art galleries and exhibitions across the country.
In his latest work with UK artist Motive 105, Ogu presents the audience with different aspects of the male identity through his own unique lens. The film aims to explore both sides of Motive105. Act 1 is a pulsating braggadocious portrayal of Motive105 the rapper, with decadence infused into every scene and line. Act 2 we see Motive105 the person, we see who he is outside of the world of rap and who are the people that made him who he is. Ogu is no stranger to unpacking themes of identity or broaching complex subjects. The photography piece “Who Are Ya” is a startling photograph that explores Ogu’s complex relationship with the St. George’s Flag. A flag that once symbolised the dream of playing football now represents a tribalism that Ogu is not necessarily allowed into. The photograph is now on display and on sale at The Drifters Gallery in Queens Park, London till late January.
We sat down to interview him to delve in a bit deeper on his latest projects:
The Introduction: Part Two ultimately is a declaration of intent. I wanted to illustrate two prominent sides of Motive105, the rapper and the person, but also I wanted to illustrate my ability as a director to stretch the boundaries of a conventional “rap” video and bring you into our world. - Timothy Ogu
1. What sparked your passion for your latest project?
In terms of The Introduction: Part Two, first and foremost the inspiration was to produce a visual better than I already had before. After the three-peat video run I had with Motive at the start of the year, I knew I had to prove to myself that I could do better. To do that though, I had to be laser focused on the idea and execution. The idea actually formulated backwards in a way, Motive sent me the song in the summer and I would just drive round Swindon constantly thinking about how to attack it. The song presents two sides of Motive, the rapper and the person, and I kept playing around with the idea of two visuals in one. We were both inspired by Renee Maria’s beautiful film “Dear Philadelphia” so I knew I wanted the second half of the song to look and feel similar. The idea for the first half of the song took a little bit more time to formulate, I knew I needed Motive to demonstrate an arrogance and an opulence that would almost come across as distasteful. I watched a lot of gangster films, American psycho and even 90’s rap videos to get the idea solid in my head.
2. You have mentioned to me that you find it fascinating to explore the black male identity, could you describe in more detail what your findings have been during your exploration?
The more I uncover, the more I realise how human and similar we are. We have been criminally underrepresented in mainstream media and I want to change that. I always remember a quote I read from somewhere, “we tell ourselves stories in order to live.” I think when you are black, in my opinion, there is no truer statement. Whether the story comes from your parents, a family relative, the music we listen to or stories told back to us on screen or through art. I continue to strive for more understanding of my identity so I can converse with the people around me and also help them to understand who they are. I took the image “Who Are Ya?” in 2018 and in 2021 it means more to me now than it ever has done. In a long winded way, I guess I am on a quest to gather as much information as I can and try to feed back to my people. Can you ask me this question again in 3 years' time haha?
3. With your projects what are you hoping to get across to the audience?
That black men are layered, delicate, strong & vulnerable individuals. I think “Who Are Ya?” speaks on so many things and puts the question of race, colonialism, the relationship between Britain and Africa directly onto the viewer. My dream is that this image causes us to have conversations amongst our significant others and friends. There is so much yet to be understood in this country and our relationship with colour and race, I really hope this image opens up a dialogue.
For The Introduction: Part Two, the aim was to produce something where you hated Motive at the start and then grow to love him by the end. I wanted to show both sides of lifestyle around one of the UK’s most up & coming rappers. For me personally, I create visuals that educate and entertain. I feel this visual is a representation of that in so many ways. I hope that people study it and go on to be inspired by it in their own particular way.
“These three pieces of work all discuss aspects of the black male identity that have to be in our artillery and be ready to be brought out at any moment.” - Timothy Ogu
Photo Credit: Elena Cremona
4. Who/what do you consider to be the biggest influence on your art?
Life and death.
Life because everyday God gives us a chance and a choice. I am so grateful to be on this earth with the ability to create, have discourse and ultimately share my opinion on life as we know it.
Death because our time here is finite and that is the beauty of life. One day we will meet our maker and we'll have to explain to him what we have done. The fact we never get our time back gives me the fire to do my best, lead with love and light and leave this place in a better space than when I entered it.
5. What other interests do you have outside of your latest projects?
Football will always be an important part of my life, that will never change. I have been super interested in black hair for the last two years and have been on my own hair journey recently, understanding what should and shouldn’t go in our hair. I love architecture and interiors, I want to study that more. Fashion is a guilty pleasure of mine, I say guilty because I am always thinking about what garms I could potentially buy. Cars! I love cars, I want to understand them more and work on one one day.
Oh and food! 2022 will finally be the year of ‘Chef Ogu’, I hope!
Photo Credit: Elena Cremona
6. Do you have any advice for our readers who are looking to combine their crafts?
This is tough because I am still learning how to combine them myself. One part of me says take time to think of a theme that tickles you and then work out how you can execute them in your different disciplines. I on the other hand took a different approach and threw myself into work with music artists, fashion companies and magazines and also in the corporate world and somehow ended up answering these questions.
I think whichever route you take, the most important thing is belief. You have to believe in yourself because there were many times I nearly dropped a discipline due to the fact I thought people never truly understood me. I think it was about 18 months ago when I realised that these three disciplines are what makes me who I am. From that moment I decided to give it my all and let God take care of where I go and how people understand me.
7. Name 3 people you’ve admired throughout 2021 and why?
This is really tough. Aaron Kudi. Rasharn Powell. Agripa Badza.
Aaron Kudi is in my opinion one of the best contemporary artists of our generation, his art is a beautiful blend of historical relevance and cultural importance. His way of re-interpreting items we see everyday is Duchamp-esc and also reminds me of the Sengalese filmmaker Djibril Diop Mambety who said, “Africans in particular, must reinvent cinema.” Kudi is reinventing what it means to be a black contemporary artist and his potential is limitless.
Rasharn Powell. I have been saying for the longest time to him that we’ll soon have to change the R in R&B and it’s slowly becoming the case. I think he’s had a stellar year in terms of music but also the broadening of his image. I love the tape he dropped earlier this year and the energy of his headline show was electric. We’ve been friends for a minute now so to see him grow has been amazing and deserved.
Agripa Badza is a personal one for me, he is the creative director of the brand called Bushy Towers and I am just super super proud of him. I think he has been on every set of my directing career to date. He has been my ‘behind the scene’s guy’ for the longest time but he recently poured his efforts into his own collection and it’s fire (if I do say so myself). I think he has really set himself up for an amazing 2022.
Also can we do special mentions for Elena Cremona who has been my favourite photographer this year and Gabriel Moses who I got put onto recently who has directed some amazing work.
AH, also Little Simz, because she is fucking Little Simz!
8. Obviously at Wordplay we love music, what is the album you’ve played more than any other in 2021?
There’s been loads you know, I think this has been a great year for music personally. Snoh Aalegra’s album comes to mind instantly, Slowthai’s, Dave, Rasharn Powell, Sam Wise, Nas’ was crazy. Obviously Donda and CLB, J Cole’s was crazy in my opinion. Tyler’s and Baby Keem, Lord Apex as well… I know there are so many albums I am missing.
I think if I have to pick 1 it would be Little Simz, not so much because I played it the most but her rollout and everything around the release felt like a big moment for her. I thought Grey Area was amazing but she upped it again on Sometimes I Might Be Introvert. I remember listening to her in college to see her success is super inspiring and deserved.
9. In 2021 what was your favourite concert/gig that you attended?
Rasharn Powell’s headline show. It was hot, sweaty, energy was on point, everyone was on good vibes and dancing, it was elite. I was meant to go to Simz’s Brixton show but Covid had other plans for me!
10. What have you got planned for the not so distant future?
Rest first of all, 2021 has been the craziest year of my life and the God I serve has been super faithful to me. My friend Ashton always reminds me of where I was when I started the year and it was in a completely different place to how I am finishing it so I have to be thankful. I am just taking some time to focus on myself and relax. I've been thinking about photography and film ideas recently, trying to work out which direction I should take or if I can combine both of them potentially. We’ll see, with Covid you can never be to set on your plans as things change, we’ll take it day by day and continue to thank God in the process.
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