Up and Away

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Odili Donald Odita, American, born Nigeria 1966

Up and Away, 2009

Acrylic latex wall paint
Princeton University
PP639
Hear the Curator (PP639)

Odili Donald Odita’s mural Up and Away spans two floors in the common room of Butler College. Color and shape play a central role in Odita’s mural: his palette is bright, almost psychedelic, and the composition brings life and dynamism to otherwise static white walls. Odita says that he was inspired by the design as well as by the function of the building. He was particularly interested in creating something conducive to the activities that occur at Butler, such as studying, communicating, and living. As a whole, the mural suggests an energy rising through the building, a force moving up the stairs toward the door. The title Up and Away is both optimistic and aspirational. It might make us think of abstract concepts like growth and flight or such concrete references as Superman. Ultimately, Up and Away refers to the experience of a student who, upon learning, leaves for higher pursuits.

Read More (PP639)

Odili Donald Odita’s large-scale, abstract wall paintings operate at the intersection of Western modernism and African culture. Odita, who was born in Enugu, Nigeria, raised in Columbus, Ohio, and received an M.F.A. from Vermont’s Bennington College, creates vast, animated murals that are informed by African textiles, post-colonial discourse, television test band patterns, sensory overload, and digital technology. Odita's practice is to spend several days at a site with his sketchbook, observing the space. His initial pencil sketches are transferred to the walls using chalk lines to mark out the shapes. He then assigns colors. A crew of artists handles the laborious process of taping and painting, with each slice of color receiving multiple layers of paint. In the case of Butler Commons, the artist was particularly taken with the building's porous boundaries and rough-hewn edges, and he incorporated both influences into Up and Away.

Watch the Video

Video of interview between Kelly Baum and Odili Odita