Top 5 visual artists to watch this year

Aside from leading the continent in entertainment, movie and music, Nigeria is also leading in visual art, as a good number of established and even upcoming ones are generously showcasing their creative ingenuity on a global scale.

Many are also highly sought-after because of their incredible works, strong personalities and impact on the younger generation of artists.

Some of them, in no particular order, include:

Gerald Chukwuma:

Chukwuma is a celebrated visual artist with an enthusiastic local and international following. He is among artists to watch this year. He is top artist for Gallery 1957, a contemporary art gallery located in Accra, Ghana.

You need to see the University of Nigeria Nsukka Art School trained artist unleash his bold works made from multitude of found objects and representation of an unforgettable visual language, in which he uses African symbols and patterns in refreshing new ways.

He has numerous creative works to his credit. One of them is The Nerve Centre; one of the 19 monuments commissioned by Lagos State government to mark Lagos at 50 celebrations. The enormous installation brought from conception to life by Chukwuma is built to last for decades. Truly, it seems that Lagos slept one night and woke up to this new landmark.

Top among the reasons to see Chukwuma’s works is the fact that the artist, who has participated in more than 20 exhibitions in the last decade in Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, France, Denmark, Holland, and the United States, is promising more exhibitions, collaborations and engagements this year.

On your visit to his exhibitions this year, you will discover why his works (combination of textures, lines, symbols and colours laid out on painstakingly etched wooden panels) have become collectors and art auctions favourites.

Chika Idu:

Chika Idu is an artist to truly watch this year. The Delta State-born painter was instrumental in the creation of Defactori Studios, which today has become an art movement among Nigeria’s new generation artists. He also created Nigeria’s first Water Colour Society of Artists (SABLES). Idu has been a part of numerous group exhibitions and has had many solo exhibitions, across many galleries in Nigeria.

Idu’s works are characterised by a heavy texture and hazy rendition technique, which he calls ‘light against visual distortion’. Chika’s works are inspired by everyday day living. For the past 18 years, he has been committed to exposing the plight of the African child through his work. Recently he began an environmental campaign on the health risks faced by children living in coastal slums. Besides teaching art at the French School Lycee Louis Pasteur, Idu works in his studio in Lagos.

He has lots to show and is willing to exhibit more works this year at partner galleries, especially Wheatbaker, Sachs Gallery and Temple Muse, all in Lagos.

Victor Ehikhamenor:

If you visit the Legend Hotel Curio Collection by Hilton at Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, great artworks courtesy of the Edo State-born painter welcome you into an awaiting leisure.

To say the least, Ehikhamenor is globally renowned. He led the team of three contemporary artists that represented Nigeria at Venice Art Biennale in Italy in 2017, Nigeria’s debut at the 122-year old biennale. Emboldened with the exposure and networking at the biennale, the artist is set for more creative works now and in the future.

So, follow the artist to see sheer creativity, especially breathtaking works induced by his quest to create incredible art.

Peju Alatise:

If you want to appreciate the female folks who are in the creative industry, Peju Alatise should be among the top 5. Alatise, a sculptor, exhibits rare creative ingenuity in her works. She was among the three artists that represented Nigeria at Venice Art Biennale in Italy in 2017. You need to see her works because Alatise has gone beyond mere sculpture to exerting some level of socio-cultural influence with her work and even personality.

You need to meet her this year because of her multiple talents. She is a sculptor, mixed-medium artist, a poet and a published writer, whose interdisciplinary work has garnered attention on the global art stage. She was selected as the 2016 fellow at the Smithsonian Institute of African Art and was 2017 recipient of the highly coveted FNB Art Prize, a prize that made her join the ranks of previous winners such as; Nolan Oswald Dennis, Turiya Magadlela, Portia Zvavahera and Kudzanai Chiurai.

Before the 2019 elections, she reengaged her passion about addressing social, political and gender-related issues as her primary subject matter, through artistic works that also capture the joy and pain of womanhood in modern-life-African traditions.

This year, she is promising more enthralling works and offering them in exhibitions, private and institutional collections around the world more than ever before.

Oluwole Omofemi:

While Nigerian parades many gifted artists, Oluwole Omofemi stands out with his unique technique and bold paintings.

Omofemi, a contemporary visual artist, is better known for his colourful and evocative paintings, which explore African heritage, and culture.

Born and raised in Ibadan, Nigeria, he rose to fame in the United Kingdom for producing the last commissioned painting of Queen Elizabeth II before her death for Tatler’s Platinum Jubilee cover.

Since then, his career skyrocketed and he is passionate about using his platform to uplift emerging African artists.

Trailing his journey in the arts, he recalls his growing up days in Ibadan, where he also draws his artistic inspiration from.

According to him, the serenity and free flowing way of life in the city sustained his inspiration to paint.

Of course, he is not apologetic for his works being viewed as Afrocentric.

He has a unique signature that allows him to incorporate African cultural heritage in his works, from the Afro hairstyle to baldness and to tribal markings, especially in his contemporary figurative and portrait paintings.

He does this as an intrinsic way of capturing femininity and the African identity and African heritage while running natural commentary on both its history and contemporary times.

Moreover, Omofemi stands out among his peers because of his unique technique, which allows him to paint and also capture the essence of his subject.