Diseye Tantua
Painter
He is a graduate of the Department of Fine and Applied Art, Rivers State College of Education, now Ignatius Ajulu University, Port Harcourt. A member of several prestigious groups; which includes the Guild Of Professional Fine Artist Of Nigeria (GFA), and is the Present Chairman, Society Of Nigerian Artists (Rivers State Chapter). With over a decade experience in full-time studio practice, his contribution to the Arts and Art Education had earned him many awards.
Diseye enthuse about his work, process and interest, “Spending my early years in Accra, Ghana before coming to Nigeria, got me fascinated with the tro-tro (Mammy wagons) and their one-liners, which grew to a selection of traditional proverbs made popular by headboards, bumper write-ups on bus, taxi, tricycles and street signs. It was my choice to keep on with this, as my works had become Afrocentric with a twist of Pop Art and Urban Art. Mostly having calligraphic finish and write-ups of traditional proverbs and vernacular. To express myself freely, I had to educate most people who are connected with my works but needed clarification on most words or sentences they found on them. This also grew my interest in pigeon English, which was forbidden in my home growing up. I had to go back to the streets to get the meanings of some slangs I recorded not only on canvas but also with my camera and in my diary”.
Together with Tam Fiofori, a renowned Nigerian photographer, he developed the AFRO-POP ART as an experimental theme and then went on to present it as a body of work in his first major solo exhibition ‘LOOK & LAUGH’ in 2009.
Diseye further expresses his thoughts, “Now I feel boxed (or caged) being called a Pop Artist! When I simply prefer to be an Artist (D-ARTIST) as I do many other things not just Pop Art… I find Joy living as an Artist, my aim is not just to make Art but remain in a state which makes Art inevitable ” Diseye has exhibited extensively both home and abroad.
