Kainebi Osahenye has developed a reputation as one of the most significant artists living and working in Nigeria today. Aware of this, Iwas quite excited when the artist agreed to meet with me. It was a typically arid and muggy afternoon when I visited him at one of his studios in the Maryland neighborhood of Lagos. He met me at the gate of the compound housing his studio, and after a warm welcome, he quickly apologized for being “a little all overthe place.” At the time, Osahenye, 46, was transitioning from one of his studios to a newer space he had recently acquired — he now works from three different studios, two in Lagos and a third in Auchi, Edo State, Nigeria. Despite the transition, the sunny, modestly sized studio was as I imagined — half organized and half messy, yet utterly comfortable with the presence of a bed injecting the space with a warm, domestic feeling, leading me to imagine that Osahenye had been workingin the space for years.

Osahenye’s studio is filled with used paint tubes, water bottles, beverage cans, and other forms of detritus that the artist has been incorporating into much of his recent work. He is fascinated by the global implications of such commodity objects, and the ways in which they can be appropriated to add a sculptural dimension to his painting practice. “I am interested in the layers that these objects create — both formally and symbolically,” he said. “Life is about layers, about what is added-on and what can be taken away. This is something that I try to remain conscious about as I develop my practice.” Osahenye, who studied painting at Auchi Polytechnic and Yaba College of Technology in Lagos, has spent the last 20 years exploring the possibilities of painting and the different ways in which he can developpictorial strategies to interact with issues like religion, social injustice, and globalization. Internationally renowned artist ElAnatsui said, “I think Kainebi is one of the few artists within the Nigerian contemporary art context who is highly experimental and also very focused on opening up the possibilities of painting both as a medium and as process.”

On the walls of Osahenye’s studio were several recently finished works and others in the early stages of conception. One work — untitled at thetime — immediately caught my attention for the way in which it brilliantly oscillates between figurative and abstraction. This large painting, made up of six separate irregularly-sized panels, was full of textures and colors that were achieved by the artist’s coy manipulation of beverage cans — some of which were burnt, crushed, and flattened. Thecans were meticulously cut and applied — like paper collage — to the panels so that their contours aligned to reveal a figure — the body of anude woman whose classical posture is reminiscent of one of MatissesBlue Nude découpés. This work is an extension of the artist’s persistent experimentation with materials, and shares parallels with several other smaller works that lined the floor of his studio.

The artist was completing new work to be shown in an intimate exhibition that he is planning to stage in his studio space. “I think showing the works in this context enables the works to speak in ways that the white cube does not allow,” he explained. Osahenye planned to invite a small group of collectors to the space to view the work and hopefully to acquire some. This was his first time doing something like this and he seemed quite optimistic about it. “I’m looking forward to seeing how the visitors engage with the work in the same context in which it was created,” he said. Osahenye doesn’t usually make work with the idea of an exhibition in mind. “It takes me time, then I stumble on something and I think this is exhibition work,” he explained. Osahenye plans to use the income generated from his studio sale to realize much more ambitious projects for future exhibitions. This is a very strategicmove on the part of the artist, especially given that in Nigeria publicfunding or private sponsorship for the arts is virtually non-existent.

“There is beauty in ugly situations,” said Osahenye, discussing the socio-political realities that he has engaged with throughout the course of his career. He is always seeking new ways of imbuing his works with forms of social critique so as to make them relevant, but without being one-dimensional. “It’s not always about finding answers, but also about raising questions as a way of not only creating a new pictorial experience for the viewer, but also of establishing a new pictorial vernacular,” he said.

Osahenye’s work brings to mind the practices of other contemporary artists who employ discarded materials as a form of social critique, like El Anatsui and Nnenna Okore. But such affinities should not be regarded as the perpetuation of a “trendy fad.” Having organized Osahenye’s last exhibition at the Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos,its director, Bisi Silva, noted that Osahenye’s use of recycled materials in his painterly installations “is less about recycling than about acknowledging the limitations of the traditional mode of painting whilst simultaneously recognizing the abilities and thepotential of pushing boundaries without losing the essence of the painterly.”

During my visit, two of the artist’s assistants dropped by to receive instructions for preparing panels and canvases. Osahenye prefers to workalone and early in the mornings when he has a clear head. “I can’t workwith studio assistants around,” said Osahenye. “I much prefer to give them assignments and leave them to it.” He spends a total of about threemonths a year working in Auchi, a quiet and less-chaotic (relative to Lagos) town in eastern Nigeria. This is where the artist goes to withdraw from the hustle and bustle of Lagos; such distance enables Osahenye to reflect on his practice without distraction, and to conceptualize ambitious projects like Casualties, 2008, an installation work featuring thousands of burnt and crushed beverage cans. “I love the Auchi space, but sometimes when I’m there, I find myself longing for the chaos of Lagos.” The vibrancy and dynamism of Lagos has had a significant impact on his practice. “There is something fascinating about the city, I find myself collecting differentaspects, like the noise or the movement. They almost become ingredientsthat I use in my work — sometimes consciously and sometimes unconsciously.”

Research plays a crucial role in Osahenyee’s practice. “I try to see as much as possible,” he said. The artist travels frequently to see exhibitions in Nigeria and abroad. “I’m going to London soon to see the ChrisOfili retrospective,” someone whose practice the artist admires considerably. He continued, “Then I’ll also be in New York in a month orso, to see some shows.” In his studio are monographs of artists including deKooning and Basquiat and tons of art magazines — recent issues of Artforum and Modern Painters are strewn about his workspace. Near the entrance, I noticed several boxes of art magazines waiting to be unpacked. On his bed, I spotted a copy of RobertHughes Nothing If Not Critical: Selected Essays on Art and Artists and a copy of the recently published Contemporary AfricanArt Since 1980 by Okwui Enwezor and Chika Okeke-Agulu,in which the artist’s work is featured.

One of the leading contemporary artists in Nigeria, Osahenye has become a collector’s favorite within the last 15 years, commanding enviable prices in the local art market. And though his collector base is primarily in Nigeria, his work has been receiving growing interests from collectors in America and in Europe. Osahenye’s work was included in aBonhams auction of African art earlier this year in New York, and later this year his work will appear in “Afropolis: City, Media, Art,” an exhibition that explores urbanization in various African cities.