The Bite Magazine - Autumn/Winter 2019 - Issue 26

biteart exhibition Using hyper-realism, Nigerian-born artist Arinze Stanley expertly translates realistic portraits onto paper. Thanks to his exposure to his family’s paper business, Arinze grew to love paper and pencils as his toys from the tender age of 6. Over the years, he gradual- ly taught himself how to master both pencils and paper in harmony as a medium to ex- press himself through what he calls his three P’s namely Patience, Practice and Persistence. Arinze creates art that triggers a degree of emotional connection between his view- ers and his subjects. As a medium, his art is also used for social and political activism, highlighting pressing matters both in his community and worldwide, such as modern slavery, feminism, and others. Often creating self-portraits of himself for which he won ‘World’s Best Self-Portrait’ in the American Art Awards 2017, his work includes The Ma- chine Man 3, Insomnia, Black Noise, An Eye for the Future, and Till He Comes. As a little girl, portrait artist Bisa Butler would sit next to her grandmother and ask her to go through her old family photo albums. “I was the one who wanted to hear the story behind every picture. This inquisitiveness has stayed with me to this day. I often start my pieces with a black and white photo and allow my- self to tell the story.” Revealed in the fabrics that she chooses, the textures that she com- bines, and colours that create a whole new composition, Bisa’s portraits tell stories that may have been forgotten over time. “When you see vintage lace and aged satin it tells you the story of delicacy and refine- Image courtesy of SMAC Gallery, copyright Mary Sibande - Somerset House_Photo credit © Anne Tetzlaff Images courtesy of Sutton Communications, Somerset House and WHATIFTHEWORLD, Ron Mandos and Mohau Modisakeng Artist: Arinze Stanley