East of Here

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Emmanuel Osahor, “Epicurus’ Garden,” 2018

oil on paper mounted on board, 44” x 35”

You might think Emmanuel Osahor and I would have little in common. After all, he’s a young Nigerian artist and I am a Polish-born wannabe grandmother. And yet his exhibition, East of Here, brings forth longing and unexpected familiarity.

On view until Feb. 23 at Harcourt House, an artist-run centre in Edmonton, it consists of paintings of older middle class homes nestled amongst overgrown bushes. A photographic mural that spans an entire wall forms a backdrop for some of the paintings. It was taken in Edmonton’s river valley and shows a makeshift shelter hidden amidst the dense undergrowth.

Osahor, who received a $15,000 honourable mention in last year’s RBC Canadian Painting Competition, brings out a surprising similarity in this juxtaposition. Both the houses and the furtive camp are surrounded by secret gardens with tree branches that arch protectively. The main difference is that one garden was found while the others were planted. Yet they all demonstrate a deep yearning for seclusion, safe refuge and a connection to nature.

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Emmanuel Osahor, “East of Here,” 2019, installation view at Harcourt House in Edmonton

Osahor’s interest in idealized environments was ignited when he was 10 and travelled from his home in Lagos to visit an aunt in Oakville, Ont. Even his middle-class upbringing didn’t prepare him for the oasis of manicured lawns he encountered. The tranquil bedroom community near Toronto left an indelible impression. Later, when Osahor returned to Canada at 17 to complete a Bachelor’s degree in fine arts at the University of Alberta, he expected nothing less than utopia.

What he found was different than Lagos, a sprawling city that’s home to 21 million people. And yet Edmonton was not so distinctive, after all. Osahor discovered the echoes of colonialism still reverberate in Canada, as they do in Nigeria, along with disturbing income disparities and the relentless marginalization of Indigenous people.

Soon after he graduated in 2015, Osahor teamed up with the outreach team at Boyle Street Community Services, an inner-city charity, and walked through the river valley, meeting the people who live there. With permission, he photographed their ramshackle shelters. At the same time, he continued to paint pictures of his neighborhood of Queen Alexandra in southwest Edmonton, unsure how the two series would connect. Finally, it became clear: the search for safe havens is universal.

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Emmanuel Osahor, “And Then What?” 2018

oil on paper mounted on board, 29” x 35”

In homage to this historical quest, the show’s title references East of Eden, a 1952 John Steinbeck novel inspired by the Genesis story of Cain and Abel. East of Eden is where Cain was exiled as punishment for killing his brother: a place far from the utopian garden of his birth.

The search for Eden continues. It is embedded in myths, legends and the dreams of refugees and immigrants everywhere. My family left Communist Poland, drawn to visions of a free and verdant Canada. To this day, people in Poland use the word “Canada” to define perfection. Osahor confirms the same sentiment exists in Nigeria. And yet, even those of us in Canada still dream. Eden remains out of reach. But maybe, just maybe, one day we will find it. ■

East of Here is on view at Harcourt House in Edmonton from Jan. 11 to Feb. 23, 2019.