The Power of Choice Is Love: Henri Abraham Univers presents paintings that offer a way in latest exhibition at Retro Africa in Abuja, Nigeria

 Henri Abraham Univers, Lune D’Or from the Guardian Angels series. 2024. Acrylic on canvas. 100x122cm. All images courtesy of Retro Africa
   

By REBECCA ANNE PROCTOR July, 2024 

A man with yellowish brown skin sits with his legs crossed on a yellow bench decorated with a multitude of undecipherable forms in deep contemplation. Behind him is a swirl of symbols on a black background like stars in the sky. He is positioned in the center of the painting and exemplifies the unique style of his maker: French and Burkinabe artist Henri Abraham Univers. Titled Le Penseur (2023), which translates to mean “The Thinker” in French, the acrylic on canvas work is on view at Retro Africa in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital as part of Univers’ solo exhibition The Power of Choice is Love, on until September 9, 2024. In what appears to be an abstracted throne of sorts, The Thinker, unclothed, stripped of all artifice, stoically sits in silence, amid the beauty and the chaos of the world around him. His state of introspection endows him with power, strength and love amid the unknown and uncontrollable forces of the world.

“Love is the most important thing,” he says. “It was love that led me to painting; sentiments led me to painting; emotions led me to painting and all of these are acts of love.”
 

Henri Abraham Univers in his London studio. Courtesy Retro Africa

Curated by Retro Africa founder Dolly Kola-Balogun, the show presents a soundscape, 10 paintings and three sculptural works all painted in Univers’ signature style: one that combines fantastical beings composed of bulging, expressive eyes, disproportionate bodies and a mesmerizing whirl of signs and symbols akin to cosmological representations. The result are works that fuse references to African traditional and folk art and surrealism. The alluring use of color, form, expression and abstraction marry in a manner that is distinctly unique to Univers’ artistic expression.

The transfixing subjects and fantastic portrayals of Univers’ works all aim to relay his philosophical explorations and beliefs. In this show, the artist’s vivid imaginary world serves to represent his faith in the power of love to influence individual and collective choices.

Through their mystical and otherworld forms, vivid hues and meticulous detailing, Univers’ subjects transcend everyday life, its confusion and turmoil to occupy another realm—a reality more akin to a dreamworld filled with love and where the basic rules of physic no longer apply. It is the realm of the spiritual and the fantastical—a realm Univers seems to insist through his work that we can all occupy through steadfast belief in love and human potential.
 

Oxygene from the Guardian Angels series. 2024. Acrylic on canvas. 131x150cm.
 

In Oygène, which means “oxygen” in English, an acrylic on canvas work painted in 2024 from his Guardian Angels series, a woman is found positioned in the center of the canvas surrounded by intricately painted goldfish which leads the spectator to believe she is underwater. Yet extending from either side of her shoulders are long elegantly formed wings laden with a circular pattern as if she were in fact flying.

In this work Univers has created a scene that transcends the physics of our earthly realm. Is the woman flying or swimming or both? It doesn’t matter because this is a being that is at ease in the sea and the air. At the end of her right hand, she holds a tiny scale of life as if to imply that everything in life is about choices in this short time we have on earth. The background is once again laden with intricate symbolism, from stars and hearts to forms that look like starfish to little anamorphic letters with words inside such as “cool” and “amour” meaning “love.”

“This work serves as a metaphor of an angel amidst the fishes,” explains Univers. “It represents the harmony of our world but also representations of good and bad because without the good and the bad we would not have our world as it is.”

For the duration of the exhibition, Retro Africa has embraced Univers’ otherworldly and idyllic universe. Walls have been painted blue so that it appears like Univers’ London studio has been transplanted in Abuja and the visitor is invited to partake in a dreamy realm that transcends earthly existence.
 

Le Penseur. 2023. Acrylic on canvas. 120x100cm.
 

“Univers does not simply present a narrative; he catalyzes a dialogue with the inner self, prompting introspection and the pursuit of a Love that is as much a universal principle as it is a personal revelation,” stated Kola-Balogun. “The Power of Choice is not only an exhibition but a transcendental experience that beckons the audience to witness the convergence of a profound inner journey with the universal quest for meaning and connection.”

Univers, born in Paris in 1974 to a French mother and a father from Burkina Faso, has long produced work that explores cosmological themes and his belief in the openness and beauty of humanity. A self-taught painter, Univers grew up in Abidjan, Ivory Coast in a multicultural ambiance that has ever since impacted his artwork. While Africa continues to be a great source of inspiration, Univers says he finds his inspiration from people and places around the world. While he graduated from Le Conservatoire libre du cinéma français in Paris, he learned after that all he wanted to do was paint. Since 2010 he has been based in London, the United Kingdom. Since 2013 he has dedicated himself entirely to his painting and in 2014, he was selected to exhibit his work in the prestigious annual Summer Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts.

“The world today needs love,” says Univers. “I need more than one life to do everything I want to do so if I can dedicate my life to creating love through my art this is the best I can do.”
 

Le Marigot de la Bienveillance from the Guardian Angels series. 2023. Acrylic on canvas. 150x156cm.
 

The Power of Choice is Love, is an introspective odyssey. It offers a moment of imaginative transcendence and meditation away from the cacophony of the outside world.

Univers’ works on view are at once playful, whimsical and deeply contemplative. They offer a way to both live and escape from human suffering and life as we know it and a profound belief is something else—something greater, powerful and beautiful beyond human life.

That powerful greatness with the ability to change both one’s personal and collective life for Univers is love.
 

Au Clair de la Lune. 2024. Acrylic on canvas. 100x122cm.
 

Cupidon et La Lega from the Guardian Angels series. 2023. Acrylic on canvas. 100x150cm.
 

The Le Cerf Volant de la Favela (2024), which translates to Kite of the Favelas, also from the Guardian Angels series, is an acrylic on canvas work that offers a more direct way to use the power of imagination to escape the harshness of reality. A man with brown skin with white wings appears to hover in the air like an angel. Below him is a dense cityscape akin to what one would find at a favela around the world. Around man are red hearts, symbols and words like “The Choice”; “Cool”; and “Love.”

The whimsical image of the man floating freely above the populous cityscape below reflects metaphorically on the dreams of us all to flee, rise above earthly toils and embrace the love and beauty around us.

“The angel of the favelas represents the transformative power of our imagination,” explains Univers. “It is like the poetry of hope and of love.”

“We are in a world that is always racing against time believing that ‘Time is money,’” he adds. “We are in a world that also needs a lot of love. I say, ‘time is love.’” WM