"Did you know that pencils are better than 'garri' and sugar plus some groundnuts and pear (avocado) if you have enough money? Check out this hyper-realistic pencil drawing if you had the same thought like me" - Chop Cedric, Artist
Artistic Realization (the subject of the review) by Chop Cedric, Artist
Review below by Merveille Moungang
Mazel tov Cedric🥳 this is unequivocally a magnum Opus that deserves the cachet of 'ne plus ultra' for being the cream of the crop in making the amazing out of the simple and anodyne! In this simple pictorial delineation I can intuit the thoughts, visions, feelings and struggles with unswerving intensity and in multiple mediums and dimensions. No need belonging to the cognoscenti of Art to cognize inordinate and stellar qualities in this drawing. This work is simply the meeting of inspiration, expression and motivation sprouting discussion, evasion, discombobulation and daze.
Merveille Moungang
There are many different guises and semblances of art, but the type that seems to get grip of your soul, search deep in its abysmal recesses and go fetch that little special thing whose existence you knew not, to reveal it to yourself, like in an enchantment (could we really learn more about ourselves just by looking at art?). I sincerely think this art is strong and expressive enough to speak to life and unravel that mysterious, slumbering little something in us. That little state of the art, magic in the art sensations that flutters in the soul, singing the tune without the words, and never stopping at all, not even after the contemplation has ceased.
This is the art, the real; that which is most arcane, for which 'beautiful' is a euphemism; for which the eyes can see not fully, the senses perceive not entirely; for which a second of contemplation has the taste of forever, for which an eternity of bewitching and bewilderment is not enough... It's got that touch of recherché, it's 'rawly' real, impossibly ephemeral, the lines and curves almost seem not to ask but to claim and command their existence from the paper. It's just like they would have existed anyway even if the artist hadn't laid them there. The shapes and contours stand with utter dignity and arrogant assurance, the precision in itself is an insolence to fallibility. This dog stands like the epitome of candor and insouciance . It seems to be suspended on the brim of some world, it gives the impression it would wag its tail, agitate its fur in a tricky and provocative dance with the surrounding air molecules, shout a joyful bark and then abandon itself in the hug of some loving master.
Precious and Cedric during an official Open Dreams outing to pick up an award
Honestly, I still can't fathom how this lot of pose and composure was given to a motile being; giving allure to a static object is easily done with shadows and abstractions but getting to this result with something that moves is surprising. The first thing I did when I saw this dog was to hold my breath, because I thought some time suspending spell had been cast; that during the next instant, the dog would move as the seconds would resume their mad rush. I realized that I'd held my breath uselessly😅; the dog would never move, but it's undeniably got the move😎.
Open Dreams secretary, Claudette with pre-scholars in the summer academy, Yaounde 2019
The magnetism its gaze exudes immediately makes a tameless allusion to what is the most deeply rooted in human nature - emotions; they come in a whirlwind, flamboyant, that have known neither travesty nor distortion, that seem to press on the mind's "unlock" key setting free Pleiades of sensations. They take us in a voyage during which the creative perspective zone is infinite, the imagination free and the possibility of illusion unsaddled. These eyes suggest millions of thoughts: one could see sadness; a disillusioned look at an unfortunate quirk of fate, the faint crumpling of its eyelids in sign of resignation to the "come what may". Some other person might see contentment that only the remembrance of the "good old days" confer to a gaze. Or no indifference, shameless amusement all translated into that so vivid sulky pout. The guesses are as numerous as there are children deceptions on father Christmas' non-existence; that's what actually makes its secret charm. It's got so much of 'out of the blue' lingering in the wonted features of a dog👌🏼