SHOWING THE CHALLENGES OF STUDYING THE COLLEGE TRAINED ARTISTS IN THE PROFESSIONALISM OF THEIR PROFESSION: A BARRIER TO PROJECTING NIGERIAN ARTISTS OF THE 21ST CENTURY AND POST COVID-19 ERA IN THE RESERVOIR OF WORLD ARTISTS

Abstract

This study examined the challenges of studying the biography of the college trained Nigerian artists particularly those of the 21th century and post covid-19 Era in the professionalism of their profession. Observation shows that many Nigerian artists of both the pre and post Nigeria independence that have European art training and skill with much exposure to better art resources than ever, and with varieties of ideas, styles, and techniques of producing art which contributes to the present creative form are not documented in the professionalism of art profession. It is on this premise that the study fills the gap by directing scholarship to the possibility of achieving insightful biography of Nigerian artists in the professionalism of their profession. The paper argues that the analysis of professionalism would have projected the artists as masters of art and hardworking scholars. This lacuna has resulted to the neglect of showing the level of quality and quantity of Nigerian creative art output. It also affected the projection of the intellectual Nigerian artists in their ideas, techniques, and styles of idioms’ in expressing cultural heritage. So also it reduced the patronage of art in Nigeria among other deprivations. The findings are based on biographical survey of qualitative research method and research questions which tests the objective of the study. It adopts the historical survey technique which relies heavily on primary and secondary source of data collection. The study ascertained that this subject matter lies on the students inability to subject art works to critical analysis as to their forms and meaning through the process of visual reading to identify, describe, interpret and analyze the works in terms of period, style, medium, philosophy, ideology, technique, theme, and meaning in descriptive summaries and other related observations as components of biographical study. Therefore the study establishes identification, description, interpretation, and analyzation of the iconographical feature of a work of art as components of biographical study of artists in the professionalism of their profession