The Fishers of Men
Oil · 2016 560 views
Made by a human
O. Yemi Tubi certifies having made this artwork by hand, with no AI-generated imagery.
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I want this painting to be Biblical subject using modern day images. While I was planning this, the horror on Mediterranean Sea unfolded. Seeing Italian coast guards fishing out African immigrants – the victims of human trafficking – from the sea and an iconic image of Syrian drowned baby being carried by Turkish police from coast resort of Bodrum (one of the Syrian drowned as they attempted to reach Greek island of Kos) made me to titled this painting – “The Fishers of Men” “The Fishers of Men” was the phrase our Lord Jesus used to call His disciples to save human soul from the predator – the Satan. In this painting, President Bashar Al-Assad, and Islamic State terrorist are the sharks, the predators the Syrians were running away from, while Africans were running from poverty and longing for a better life in Europe which made them victims of the human trafficking. Fishers of men are not only coast guards that rescued the refugees from drowning; Fishers of men includes good neighbours’ nations like Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey that are caring for larger numbers of refugees from Syria. Fishers of men are good people of Europe that welcome the refugees with open arms. Fishers of men are those that met the refugees with boxes of supplies and offering candy and cuddly toys for the refugees’ children. This work is one of the series of paintings I used to advocate tolerance for one another as we are all human regardless of our origin and religion. I love arts that do not just decorate but also evoke feelings. You can see more of my works with political messages on my website: www.o-yemi-tubi.pixels.com
Like some of the old art masters Delacroix and Goya that spoke about social and political upheavals of their time in their works, O. Yemi uses some of his paintings to express himself about on-going political and social issues around the world. “A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art” so said Paul Cezanne; O. Yemi was deeply moved by the horrors of wars and the plight of immigrants drowning in the sea to pick up his brushes again. His first political painting was “ARAB REVOLUTION” influenced by Arab Spring that started in 2012. “THE EAGLE HAS LANDED” was done to speak about American led war on terror. His painting -“KABIYESI OBA OBAMA (Unquestionable King Obama)” was a political satire based on the love and hate relationship between President Obama and Donald Trump. “THE BLEEDING ROSE” was done in solidarity with Christians beheaded by ISIS in Iraq and Syria. “Hunger in the Land of Plenty” and “OIL: AFRICANS’ WEALTH and WOE” were about poverty and exploitation of African people. He also used his painting – “UKRINE: THE UNFORTUNATE BRIDE” to speak about how America and Russia influenced the war in Ukraine. “THE FISHERS OF MEN” was about immigrants drowning in the sea. When O. Yemi works on portrait paintings, he desires his portrait paintings to be uniquely creative. He often uses the paintings to tell stories about his subjects. In one of his commissioned paintings “Josanne of Trinidad”, he blended the images of the parents at the top background cloud and the main subject below the images of her parents. This is to indicate that the parents are in heaven looking down on Josanne. He often uses his subjects’ professions to create their paintings. He used artist materials to create his painting “PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST” and image of violin for the portrait of “THE VIOLINIST” He used books and flowing letters to create the portrait of Professor Wole Soyinka, 1986 Nobel Prize Winner in Literature in painting “SOYINKA: AN AFRICAN LITERARY ICON” O. Yemi has widely exhibited his works around the world in group and solo exhibitions. His works had featured in exhibitions in Bogota, Colombia; Vancouver, Canada; UN exhibition, Milan, Italy; Tokyo, Japan; USA and in many cities across the United Kingdom. O. Yemi has received many awards for his works across the world; his works have also been published in many art magazines and contemporary arts books. He is a member of the Fine Art America, the Society of All Artists, AERA –the Association Embracing Realistic Art and WCA- World Citizen Artists. O. Yemi paintings and awards can be seen on his website: www.o-yemi-tubi.pixels.com
