Kehinde Wiley is an American portrait painter based in New York City known for his naturalistic paintings of Black people that reference the work of Old Master paintings. In 2017, Wiley was commissioned to paint former President Barack Obama's portrait for the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. The Columbus Museum of Art hosted an exhibition of his work in 2007 and describes his paintings as "heroic portraits which address the image and status of young African-American men in contemporary culture."
Odinigwe Benedict Chukwukadibia Enwonwu MBE, better known as Ben Enwonwu, was a Nigerian painter and sculptor. Arguably the most influential African artist of the 20th century, his pioneering career opened the way for the postcolonial proliferation and increased visibility of modern African art. He was one of the first African artists to win critical acclaim, having exhibited in august exhibition spaces in Europe and the United States and listed in international directories of contemporary art. Since 1950, Enwonwu was celebrated as "Africa's Greatest Artist" by the international media and his fame was used to enlist support for Black Nationalists movement all over the world. The Enwonwu crater on the planet Mercury is named in his honour.
Christopher Uchefuna Okeke, also known as Uche Okeke, was an illustrator, painter, sculptor, and teacher. He was an art and aesthetic theorist, seminal to Nigerian modernism.
Twins Seven Seven, born Omoba Taiwo Olaniyi Oyewale-Toyeje Oyelale Osuntoki was a Nigerian painter, sculptor and musician. He was an itinerant singer and dancer before he began his career as an artist, first attending in 1964 an Mbari Mbayo workshop conducted by Ulli Beier and Georgina Beier in Osogbo. Twins Seven Seven went on to become one of the best known artists of the Osogbo School.
David Hammons is an American artist, best known for his works in and around New York City and Los Angeles during the 1970s and 1980s.
Felix Idubor (1928–1991) was a Nigerian sculptor from Benin City, a city with a rich history of artistic excellence. He was part of a young group of artists in the 1950s and 1960s who raised awareness of the artistic consciousness of African tradition in an emerging and nascent social milieu. He is sometimes considered one of the pioneers of Nigerian contemporary art. In 1966, he opened Nigeria's first contemporary art gallery in Kakawa street, Lagos.
Rashid Johnson is an American artist who produces conceptual post-black art. Johnson first received critical attention in 2001 at the age of 24, when his work was included in Freestyle (2001) curated by Thelma Golden at the Studio Museum in Harlem. He studied at Columbia College Chicago and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and his work has been exhibited around the world.
Christopher Oluwole Rotimi is a retired Nigerian Army brigadier general, diplomat and politician, he served during the Nigerian Civil War, and was the Governor of Western State while Nigeria was under military rule from 1971 to 1975. Oluwole Rotimi became the Nigerian Ambassador to the United States in 2007.
Bruce Obomeyoma Onobrakpeya is a Nigerian printmaker, painter and sculptor. He has exhibited at the Tate Modern in London, the National Museum of African Art of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the Malmö Konsthall in Malmö, Sweden. The National Gallery of Modern Art, Lagos has an exhibit of colourful abstract canvases by Onobrakpeya and his works can be found at the Virtual Museum of Modern Nigerian Art, although no exhibitions were showing as of October 2017.
Henry Jamyn Brooks (1839–1925) was a British painter, particularly known for his pictures of meetings and events, in which many individuals are personally identifiable. He painted royalty, and portraits of civic leaders and military people, and was also a photographer.
The Polytechnic, Ibadan is an institution of higher learning in Ibadan in Oyo State, Nigeria. Founded on August 1970, Poly Ibadan is similar to other polytechnics in Nigeria. The institution was founded to offer an alternative form of higher education, with a specific focus on acquiring technical skills distinct from traditional universities.. The vocational and skills acquisition center aims to guarantee that students acquire mastery in a skill before graduating, while also offering skills training to the local community.Poly Ibadan is also well known for its unique slogan written in Yoruba language as Ise loogun ise which means 'Work is the antidote for poverty', a classical Yoruba adage which stresses that hard work is the way out of poverty.
Afeez Oyetoro is a Nigerian comedian, a theatre actor and an artist popularly known as "Saka". His parents had eight children, of which he is the fifth, and is currently married and has three children. He is also a lecturer of theatre arts in one of Nigeria's leading higher institutions, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education.
Njideka Akunyili Crosby is a Nigerian-born visual artist working in Los Angeles, California. Through her art, Akunyili Crosby "negotiates the cultural terrain between her adopted home in America and her native Nigeria, creating collage and photo transfer-based paintings that expose the challenges of occupying these two worlds". In 2017, Akunyili Crosby was awarded the prestigious Genius Grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Peju Layiwola, is an art Historian and visual artist from Nigeria who works in a variety of media and genre. She is listed as a "21st Century Avant-Garde" in the book Art Cities of the Future published by Phaidon Press. She is currently a Professor of Art and Art history at the University of Lagos and has been described as a "multi-talented artist." Her works can be found in the collection of Microsoft Lagos, Yemisi Shyllon Museum, Pan Atlantic, Lagos and homes of private collectors such as JP and Ebun Clark and the Obi of Onitsha.
Harmonia Rosales is an American artist from Chicago.
Tunde Odunlade, born 26 November 1954, is a Nigerian artist, actor, and musician known for his Batik art tapestry and designs. He specialises in textile arts, and floatography. He is a member of the Visual Artists Network of the United States of America (VAN) and a frequent participant at the National Conference of Artists, New York. He was a performing actor with the Nigeria Cultural Troupe during Festac. He lives in Ibadan, the southern western part of Nigeria.
The Anglican Diocese of Lagos is one of 13 dioceses within the Anglican Province of Lagos, itself one of 14 provinces within the Church of Nigeria. The current bishop is Humphrey Bamisebi Olumakaiye who succeeded Ephraim Ademowo.
Ebenezer Samuel Akinola, is a Nigerian artist and curator known for his work in portraiture, figurative and abstract African art. He is mostly known for his commissioned paintings of Nigerian presidents Nnamdi Azikiwe, Abdulsalami Abubakar and Olusegun Obasanjo which are displayed at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Lagos. He has held several solo and joint exhibitions both in Nigeria and abroad.
Samson Bakare is a Nigerian-born, multidisciplinary artist based in Lagos, who is known for his portrayal of dark toned bodies with dynamic flowery background. He arrays his semi-figurative subjects in brilliant colours, making an audible aesthetic statement. His work is characterized by protruding eyes, distinctively detailed Iris and Pupil. Bakare became known after his collaboration with Gucci.
Razaq Olatunde Rom Kalilu is a professor of art and history in the faculty of environmental sciences, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso. He is an acting vice chancellor of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology known as (LAUTECH), which is located in Ogbomoso, Oyo State.
