Rob Omodiagbe is a Sydney-based, British Nigerian artist.He paints instinctively and fast, describing his abstract portraits as part storytelling, part an exercise in balance where faces are a collection of fulcrums, wires and crescent moons. And while some reference Basquiat on seeing his work, his own reference points include Miro, Freud, de Lempicka, American artist Nick Cave and, perhaps, Patrick Caulfield (Rob shared lunch with Patrick many years ago — his then girlfriend knew Patrick’s ex-wife. The two men spent hours bonding over a shared love of cars, specifically the Karmann Ghia (vintage Porsche-like curves wrapped around a slow VW engine) before discovering that neither of them could actually drive).Griot is Rob’s second show. The first — some thirteen years ago — sold out on opening night and was featured in the ABC program ‘The A-Z of Contemporary Art’.Rob is also an award-winning advertising creative whose career has included stops in London, New York and Sydney.