For years he’s been a summertime feature in Lagos drawing crowds to marvel at the speed and dexterity of his wackily insightful caricatures.
With his signature bright red Piaggio Ape 3-wheeler and infectious Scottish humour, Aidan Bremner can be found in the main square by the Old Town Hall every evening throughout the busy season, from “around seven o’clock” until past midnight.
His street drawings come with a warning, however: “Caricatures can damage your ego”.
“A lot of people slim down after I have done one”, his blue eyes belie a twinkle. We are in his garage atelier when he says this, looking at a masterful portrait of the borough’s mayor, drawn a few years ago. It is true, the man has shed kilos since the image first saw the light of day …
But what few are aware when they enjoy Aidan’s special brand of evening street theatre in Lagos, is that at home, just a few miles away, there is a new Bremner in the wings.
Fifteen-year-old Mariana Bremner’s paintings and drawings are exceptional. There really is no other word for it. They are so exceptional, in fact, that it took years for her school teachers to accept that it is really Mariana who does them.
“School used to be so difficult for me”, her forehead creases at the memory. “No one would believe that I had actually done anything… They used to say “your father helped you”, and they wouldn’t want to give me a good mark. I got so frustrated…”
Happily, the rocky road of adolescence brought with it the benefit of time. People are more open to the fact that a 15-year-old can paint wonderfully. Mariana’s undeniable talents are finally winning the merit they have always deserved.
She is just back from an inspirational summer art course in Scotland, at the Leith School of Art, where she says learnt “more in a week, than I learnt in three years here”, and next month she will be starting at Lagos’ Júlio Dantas high school, where art instruction is excellent.
To give Aidan his due, he also does his best to teach Mariana. “It’s not easy”, he shakes his head in the way fathers the world over shake heads over daughters. “She has her own ideas”…
“And when it comes to actually choosing what she wants to do, she has a whole lot of talent… it’s not just drawing and painting. She’s also very keen on photography, on felting. A whole bunch of stuff.
“For me it was art or nothing. Much easier, in a way”.
But whatever happens, Aidan and wife Annegret, are quite certain that Mariana will find her way.
“She will probably have to create what she does”, Annegret says with the quiet wisdom that keeps the family grounded.
“My head is too full of ideas to do just one thing”; Mariana agrees. “Of course, I don’t know yet exactly what I am going to do, but I know it will involve adventure, and risks”.
It’s the kind of statement that could send a shaft of worry through a parent’s heart, but it is not meant that way. Mariana Bremner is not talking about jumping off mountains, or tightrope walking over chasms, she’s talking about taking her art to new places, and being different.
It’s a characteristic that seems to run in the family…
Postscript: And if the name “Bremner” rings a bell, yes, there is another gifted one on the arts scene right now: Ewen Bremner, Aidan’s son from a previous marriage: a well-known actor who has appeared in all kinds of stellar productions, including Trainspotting, Great Expectations, Jack the Giant Slayer and most recently, the avant-garde sci-fi thriller Snowpiercer.
Written by Natasha Donn
