Oluwole Omofemi

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Omofemi’s work has a strong identity and message. To see a work by this artist is to be struck by a strong visual presence of the person painted and to instantly be drawn in realizing the artist has a wider message.

Oluwole Omofemi was born in the ancient city of Ibadan in Nigeria. He grew up and has lived in Africa, moving from the inner streets of Ibadan to a fishing community in a coastal area called Etsako, Agenebode. He was of humble origins and like many artists before him, his family wanted him to go into a safe and practical trade rather than to pursue art. It has been noted that he hawked beer to be able to buy his drawing pads. He received his High National diploma from Polytechnic of Ibadan.

With living artists which is what we refer to as contemporary art, we see so many artists and in the past five years or so a proliferation of artists exploring black identity and culture. This artist stood out to us from several perspectives. One being the technical quality of his work which is strongly academic and yet has slight evidence of the use of flatness and broader painting techniques. The other is an undercurrent that comes through in all his works. A message that is a celebration of beauty, identity, femaleness and what that embodies in a broader perspective. And then, what is always markedly present, the sense of hair or no hair.