Edozie Anedu - Helvetica Times

February 17, 2023 - March 10, 2023

Edozie Anedu (b. 1997) is a self-taught artist based in Benin City, Nigeria. Working primarily with oils, acrylics, pastels and recycled materials, Anedu’s paintings employ elemental forms and figures that verge on the abstract.

Helvetica font which was adopted by Apple (since iOS 7) has since become increasingly popular. We navigate digital life alongside this font, it being used for government publications, business logos, operating systems of our gadgets and devices, i.a. There is a feel of ease and romance around the curves and its simplicity which eventually translates to how we communicate digitally and physically. This is exactly what Anedu’s work embodies in his upcoming solo exhibition titled “Helvetica Times”.

His aesthetics is inspired by precious metals, precious stones and noble gases- especially products of neon. Drawing from personal experience, Anedu’s unflinching use of color and often aggressive brush strokes express a freedom of emotion that commands attention. For Anedu, painting is an opportunity to create the beauty he wants to see in the world around him.

The world around us is governed by design from a simple mug, the paved roads, the tallest building or the most complex artificial intelligence. Whilst navigating through everyday life collecting data of all sorts, the artist translates those influences onto the canvas. He considers his portraits to not really be about him even though they start with him looking in the mirror and picking up the canvas. Depending on how he is feeling and his perspective on life and the world on that given day, the painting takes shape. Drawing from himself yet really going through so many layers of thoughts the artist’s depictions are a vivid study of the human condition.