Ablade Glover

DR. ABLADE GLOVER, NDD, ATD, MEd, Ph.D., FRSA

Dr. Glover is a painter who has found a style of his own which is instantly recognizable, working in oils on canvas with the palette knife. His forte is colour, colour applied liberally, colours in juxtaposition, colours from which leap the images he creates. He has concentrated on marketscapes, townscapes, forestscapes - and his distinctive paintings are found in public and private collections worldwide.

ON DR. GLOVER'S PAINTINGS

He enjoys painting crowded scenes as panoramas. "I love markets" he says, "and I love the market mummies (women). I adore the hustle and bustle of towns. He squeezes rich colours straight onto canvas and uses a palette knife to build up the images. The British critic Errol Lloyd describes his paintings as being "reminiscent of Seurat's 'pointillist' technique in which an image is meticulously built up by a series of carefully considered dots of specific hues. With Glover, however, the process is more random and joyous and the colours more primary; and the dots nearer to daubs. And whereas Seurat achieved in his pictures a sense of stillness and timelessness, Glover's paintings bustle with movement and vitality. 

ARTIST STATEMENT

My work at first glance seems to dwell on three themes, but to me they are all shoots from one root: People, particularly women. I have painted women as long as I can remember, they fascinate me and excite my imagination. What excites me about women is their courage, as shown in the way they carry themselves - erect and brave; they way they speak with their every movement - you might call it body language. These women carried my imagination to the market - which I like to think of as a culture within a culture. There is certainly more to it than meets the eye, what goes on in the market goes beyond buying and selling.

I believe the political, economic, and social climate of the nation is determined at the market. When I paint people, I paint the movement, movement in colour - colour juxtaposition. I believe that is what happens when we look upon a crowd of people - we do not see people really, we just see colour, and movement, that is what I try to capture in my people and market panoramic scenes. My townscapes have a philosophical note to them - I often wonder what might be happening under those roofs: loving, living, hating, killing, stealing, etc. - if only those roofs could be lifted - the revelation could be devastating! My animal fights depict conflict, and the explosion, when conflicts build up. In summary, my work is my response to my environment, and the dynamics that control it: women.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

1995/1996 Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan.

1995 The October Gallery, London, U.K.

1993 The October Gallery, London, U.K.

1993 French Cultural Center, Cotonuo, Benin.

1992 World Intellectual Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.

1991 Biz Art Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland.

1991 The October Gallery, London, U.K.

1990 Gallery Pluriel, Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire.

1989 World Bank Art Society, Washington DC, USA.

1989 British Council, Accra, Ghana.

1987 IFA Gallery, Bonn, Germany.

1987 National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe.

1986 Gallery GO, Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire.

1985 IFA Gallery, Bonn, Germany.

1985 Studio Museum, Harlem, New York, USA.

1983 Commonwealth Institute, London, U.K.

1982 The October Gallery, London, U.K

1982 Africa Center, London, U.K.

1982 Hotel Mami Yoka, Freetown, Sierra Leone.

1980 National Gallery of Modern Art, Lagos, Nigeria.

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

African American Institute, Head Office, New York, USA

Ashanti Goldfields Company, Head Office, Accra, Ghana

Barclays Bank Ghana Ltd., Accra, Ghana

Commonwealth Foundation, London, U.K.

Guy Pas Collection, Geneva, Switzerland

O'Hare International Airport (Mural), Chicago, USA

Royal Collection of Prince and Princess Takamado, Tokyo, Japan

Unesco Headquarters, Paris, France

Visiting Arts, London, U.K.