They are Nigerians who are not shy to showcase their black heritage. They have been flying the colours of the country high through their arts that show their connectivity to the source. The Nigerian culture remains pronounced in their works as they dominate the art industry through ingenuity, culture-inspired works and determination. Visual artists like Njideka Akunyili-Crosby got to the limelight when the daughter of late NAFDAC DG, Prof Dora Akunyili, was announced as a recipient of the United States Artists (USA) Fellowship and also when she sold her artworks at a “good price”. Laolu Senbanjo and Yinka Shonibare are two visual artists that have benefitted immensely from their knowledge of African culture.
Laolu NYC blazes trail with Afromysterics
Laolu Senbanjo is a lawyer who practiced for three years in Nigeria where he acquired his law degree before leaving for the United States (US). He is popularly known as Laolu NYC and is based in Brooklyn, New York. With Laolu everything is a canvas. His versatility is dominant in his works which has earned him a seat with several highly placed personalities. Laolu has worked with Taraji P. Henson, Lupita Nyongo, Alicia Keys, Danielle Brooks, and has had his Sacred Art of the Ori body ritual featured on Beyoncé’s 2016 Grammy Award-winning “Lemonade”. His reputation and excellent works have earned him a place on the covers of the New York Times and he has granted interviews to several media outlets, including BBC, CNN and Vogue. He said since he coined Afromysterics in 2007, everything became his canvas, including human bodies, clothing, shoes, murals, chairs and tables as he believes art should not be limited to the wall or the museum. While speaking on his style in an interview, he said there was more to body painting as the energies had to be the same to achieve a good result. He said body painting which he termed Sacred Art of the Ori was not done for fun as he saw the body as ancestral skin, adding that his paintings were involved by the body, especially the energy of the client. Not only is he known for his peculiar Africa-inspired art, but he is also known for speaking for African art as he did when Damien Hirst made a sculpture replica of an African bronze without giving credit to the original piece.
He said, “You did not give an interpretation; you created a flat-out carbon copy. I refuse to sit down and be quiet about what you are doing in Venice.”
He reminisced his journey in the industry when invited by Confront Art to create art for auction at Sotheby’s via a message he posted on his verified Instagram page: “Being an immigrant to the US from Nigeria, I’ve been acutely aware of the filters through which I am received, the darkest of all being my skin. So being able to work as a black artist, in New York City, having my art up for auction, and at Sotheby’s is still a dream I am yet to realise has been fulfilled. Even more beautiful is that the proceeds of this lot goes to the Breonna Taylor Foundation: that The Sacred Art of the Ori would have the chance to create an altar to our Breonna-I am so lucky.”
He also used the event to engage in activism; championing the course of the black artist. Laolu is also a singer, songwriter, musician and activist with collaborations with Kenneth Cole, Nike, Equinox Fitness, Starbucks, Belvedere, Bvlgari, TED, among others.
His deal with Nike opened a new vista for him as he showed his works on sneakers. He said he had wanted to transit his works from art to fashion which was aided by his relocation to New York. His selection as one of the artists for Nike’s Masters of Air added the desired glamour to his works adding the deal transformed his art career.
Shonibare’s batik sets him apart, ahead
Yinka Shonibare is another Nigerian excelling as a visual artist in the United Kingdom. He was born in 1962 in London and studied Fine Art at Byam School of Art, London (now Central Saint Martin’s College) in 1989 and received his MFA from Goldsmiths, University of London in 1991. He was nominated for the Turner prize in 2004. He has carved a niche for himself by using Ankara fabrics to portray African colours while telling compelling messages. With impeccable accomplishment, he rose above his physical challenges. He told the Guardian UK in 2013 that he contracted transverse myelitis when he was 18 years old. The disease is an inflammation of the spinal cold causing paralysis. “At first, I had no movement at all from the neck down, so I had to work very hard to trick my brain into making parts of my body work. I still have residual paralysis and I use a wheelchair. I don’t have a lot of strength in my legs, but I have physiotherapy every day to help me maintain some physical strength. I try to eat healthily, I don’t eat junk food,” he said.
One of his works, a painted fibreglass titled ‘Wind Sculpture’ was installed in front of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Art (NMAA) in Washington. The British Council unveiled his first outdoor sculpture in Nigeria in 2016. The Wind Sculpture VI, was displayed at the Ndubuisi Kanu Park in Ikeja, Lagos to the admiration of Nigerians in what was his first solo presentation in Nigeria.
On his piece the British Council said, “The sculpture forms part of a series of important large-scale works that marked a new departure for Shonibare by working in fibre-glass and steel. Using these materials, Shonibare investigates the shifting movement of wind passing through fabric and encapsulates the sheer, three-dimensional volume of wind.
“With his Wind Sculptures series, the artist has captured a moment in time where the wind passes through his signature Dutch wax batik fabrics on a dramatically grand scale. These six-metre-high sculptures appear to be an ephemeral billowing form but are actually rendered in steel and fibreglass. The organic concave and convex shapes formed by nature are mirrored in the patterns which replicate traditional ‘African’ fabrics.
“There is a different pattern and palette for each sculpture in the series that are hand-painted onto the surface with bright colours. All of these elements together lend the work a magical and poetic quality that deliberately plays on initial perceptions and frames of reference, a thread running throughout Shonibare’s practice.”
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