2016: 7 Visual artists who made headlines

Oresegun Olumide

Lagos-born Nigerian artist Oresegun Olumide is a realist painter whose works went viral on the internet and earned him several recognitions at home and abroad. 

Inspired by his community, the 35-year-old Fine Art graduate of Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, became interested in art at the age of four and started professionally creating art in 2005.

His describes his works as “a gradual process,” which take between two to three weeks to create individual pieces.

Kureng Dapel

For a Nigeria where underwater photography is basically none existent, Kureng Dapel’s underwater shots taken at the Wiki Warm Springs of Yankari Game Reserve kept the internet alight for a long time. The 28-year-old Jos-based photographer went from being a welder, mechanic, bulldozer driver and theatre arts student to becoming one of Nigeria’s most talked about photographers of 2016.

Njideka Akunyili-Crosby

Njideka Akunyili-Crosby, 33 is a California-based Nigerian-born visual artist whose collage, drawings, painting, printmaking and photo transfers negotiates the cultural terrain between her adopted home in America and her native Nigeria.  Through a sophisticated visual language that pays homage to the history of Western painting as she also references African cultural traditions, her works are a narrative of her challenges occupying these two words. 

Fati Abubakar

Fati Abubakar, 30, is on a mission to change the way the world sees her homeland, Borno State, which has been plagued by violence and instability in the last couple of years. Abubakar who loves photography and what it can do as a medium to tell a story said she has decided to use that to document Borno simply because the religious crisis that has ravaged it showcases only the trauma and despair while forgetting that there are survivors trying to lead normal lives and go on every day despite the insurgency. The artist’s goal is to, through her works, help people see that people in that part of Nigeria are thriving; living, moving on while she rekindles memories of old glory.

Laolu Senbanjo

It was big news when it broke that a Nigerian had been commissioned by Nike to make footwear and even more exciting for the art community when it was known that it was one their own, Laolu Senbanjo. The visual artist who is also a musician and human rights lawyer is Laolu is based in Brooklyn, New York. 

Godwin Uzoji 

Godwin Uzoji, 42, from the lecture room shot to overnight celebrity status after winning the grand prize of the 9th edition of National Art Competition (NAC). His is arguably a miracle of a sojourn in the art and creative world.

Mariagoretti Eze

Mariagoretti Chinenye Eze is the 2016 winner of the annual Spanish Art competition. As a 22-year-old in 2012, she won the ‘Life in My City Art Festival,’ with her mixed media piece, ‘Rejuvenation’ which won her the overall prize.