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Nigerian artists

138 artists

Nigeria's art history is among the longest and richest in the world. The terracotta heads of the Nok culture, the bronzes of Igbo-Ukwu and Ife, and the Benin Bronzes are masterpieces of world sculpture, and Yoruba carvers such as Olowe of Ise worked in a living tradition into the twentieth century. Modern Nigerian art began with painters such as Aina Onabolu and Ben Enwonwu, and grew in three famous centres: the Zaria Art Society, the Oshogbo school and the university at Nsukka.

Today Nigerian artists are among the most celebrated anywhere: El Anatsui, Yinka Shonibare, Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Otobong Nkanga show in the world's great museums, Lagos has a booming art scene, and the potter Ladi Kwali's portrait is on the 20 naira note. This list brings together Nigeria's artists with Wikipedia articles, most looked-up first. See also Nigerian photographers and West Africa.

Profiles

Photographer

Misan Harriman

Nigeria · 1977–

Misan Harriman, the Nigerian-born British photographer, became known for his 2020 Black Lives Matter pictures and shot a British Vogue cover.

Artist

Yinka Shonibare

Nigeria · 1962–

Yinka Shonibare dresses headless figures in Victorian costume of "African" Dutch wax print, a fabric with a European history, to question empire and identity.

Sculptor

El Anatsui

Ghana · Nigeria · 1944–

Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui turns thousands of flattened bottle caps into shimmering metal "cloths". His life, his materials and where to see the work.

Painter

Njideka Akunyili Crosby

Nigeria · 1983–

Nigerian-born painter Njideka Akunyili Crosby layers paint, collage and photo transfers into interiors that hold two homes at once. Her life and methods.

Photojournalist

Sani Maikatanga

Nigeria · 1975–

Sani Maikatanga, a Kano photojournalist, documents northern Nigeria's festivals, crafts and daily life, from the Argungu fishing festival to Kano's durbars.

Potter

Ladi Kwali

Nigeria · 1925–1984

Ladi Kwali, a Gbari potter from central Nigeria, became its most celebrated ceramicist at the Abuja Pottery Training Centre; she is on the 20 naira note.

Painter and sculptor

Ben Enwonwu

Nigeria · 1917–1994

Ben Enwonwu (1917–1994) sculpted Queen Elizabeth II, made Anyanwu and painted Tutu, the "African Mona Lisa" that sold for £1.2 million in 2018.

Painter and musician

Twins Seven-Seven

Nigeria · 1944–2011

Twins Seven-Seven, sole survivor of seven sets of twins, became the most famous painter of the Oshogbo school, filling his works with Yoruba spirits.

Artist

Otobong Nkanga

Nigeria · 1974–

Otobong Nkanga, a Nigerian-born artist in Antwerp, makes tapestries, installations and performances about land, mining, trade and the body.

Printmaker and painter

Bruce Onobrakpeya

Nigeria · 1932–

Bruce Onobrakpeya, of the Zaria Art Society, invented printmaking techniques drawing on Urhobo culture and founded the Harmattan Workshop in Agbarha-Otor.

Photographer and singer

TY Bello

Nigeria · 1978–

TY Bello (Toyin Sokefun-Bello) is a leading Nigerian portrait photographer, official photographer to President Goodluck Jonathan, and a gospel singer.

Sculptor

Nnenna Okore

Nigeria · 1975–

Nnenna Okore, a Nigerian artist born in Australia and based in Chicago, twists, dyes and weaves burlap, paper and clay into sculptures of decay and renewal.

Painter and teacher

Uche Okeke

Nigeria · 1933–2016

Uche Okeke, leader of the Zaria Art Society, formulated "natural synthesis" and revived Igbo uli drawing as a modern art at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Painter

Aina Onabolu

Nigeria · 1882–1963

Aina Onabolu, often called the father of modern Nigerian art, painted oil portraits in colonial Lagos to prove Africans could master any style.

Photographer

Samuel Fosso

Nigeria · Cameroon · 1962–

Samuel Fosso opened a studio in Bangui at thirteen and has photographed himself in costume ever since, from 1970s pop-star poses to his African Spirits.

Poet and photographer

Caleb Femi

Nigeria · 1990–

Caleb Femi, London's first Young People's Laureate, combines poems and his own photographs in Poor (2021), a portrait of young Black men on a Peckham estate.

More artists

Most looked-up first. Names link to our profile, or to Wikipedia where we do not have one yet. Short descriptions from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons. Image credits

Better known for other work

Writers, presenters and public figures whom Wikidata also lists here; their profiles explain the connection.

Television host and photographer

Frank Edoho

Nigeria · 1972–

Frank Edoho is best known as the host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in Nigeria; he is also a photographer, filmmaker and voice-over artist.