Benin: Kings and Rituals, Court Arts From Nigeria

Benin: Kings and Rituals, Court Arts From Nigeria

Art Institute of Chicago

Through Sept. 21

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Exhibitions of anthropological artifacts are not supposed to be this “unapologetically gorgeous,” said Kevin Nance in the Chicago Sun-Times. Over the course of several centuries, the Edo people of Nigeria created sumptuous, sophisticated styles of sculpture, jewelry, and furniture. The mostly wooden objects at the Art Institute of Chicago bristle with coral, ivory, and precious gems. But what is most notable is not their splendor but the skillful manner, “at once realistic and subtly stylized,” in which they are carved. “Perhaps the most impressive objects here” are sculptures of animals—enormous snakes, elephants, birds, fish, and “especially leopards”—each identified with one of the Edo’s obas, or kings.

These sculptures purport to chronicle the adventures of the obas in the afterlife, said Alan G.Artner in the Chicago Tribune. But though animal imagery may be “central to the art” and religion of the Edo, the oba sculptures are hardly the apex of their craft. In fact, some of the most artistically sophisticated works here are not three-dimensional sculptures but two-dimensional brass plaque decorations. These “extremely refined” and realistic tableaux once festooned the walls of palace courtyards. In many, “the brute power of depiction often sweeps all before it, especially giving battle scenes and processions of figures on horseback an almost hallucinatory vividness, tough and unforgettable.” Other plaques in the same style, however, are equally confident in creating a sense of “poise and serenity.” The true indication of just how sophisticated Edo craftsmen were is that the many works here “do not just sound the same notes” but gradually create a complex and fully rounded sense of the artists’ society.