Nigerian art is a diverse and rich tradition that encompasses a wide range of forms, including ancient sculptures, textiles, masks, and contemporary visual arts. Historically, Nigerian art includes the intricate bronze and terracotta sculptures of the Nok, Ife, and Benin cultures, which date back thousands of years. These works often depict human figures, animals, and deities with great attention to detail and symbolism.
In modern times, Nigerian art has evolved to include painting, sculpture, photography, and mixed media, often reflecting the country's cultural heritage, social issues, and political landscape. Contemporary Nigerian artists blend traditional techniques with modern influences, addressing themes such as identity, globalization, postcolonialism, and the complexities of Nigerian society. Nigerian art is celebrated both within the country and internationally for its creativity, cultural significance, and powerful storytelling.
Sola Olulode is a British Nigerian artist born in 1996, known for her figurative works that explore themes of race, history, identity, and belonging. Her art tenderly portrays the joy in queer love, using gestural brushwork and a warm palette of deep blues, yellows, and greens, influenced by Yoruba adire textiles. Olulode's paintings emphasize the representation and visibility of Black Queer experiences.
Art: Park Date, 2025
Art: Portrait 20
Laju Sholola, born in 1989, is a visual artist based in Lagos, Nigeria. She is recognized for her distinctive style, featuring unfinished lines and tea-soaked brushstrokes combined with ink and acrylic. Her technique creates fluid, transparent brown tones on the backgrounds and the skin of her characters, capturing the essence and vulnerabilities of human beings.
Odinakachi Okoroafor, a mixed media artist born in 1989 in Abia, Nigeria, is based in Enugu. His work is driven by a desire to recreate childhood memories and express his views on community. Okoroafor's art highlights Nigeria's cultural diversity while also addressing the challenges of tribalism and religious sentiments, which he sees as obstacles to progress in the country.
Art: Lush, 2020
Art: Power Play 1, 2022
Chukwudubem Ukaigwe, born in 1995, is a Nigerian-born interdisciplinary artist based in Canada. He works across various mediums, including painting, ceramics, sculpture, film, and performance, using his practice as a way to explore and develop ideas. Ukaigwe’s art creates narratives in his own unique language, focusing on the present moment. His use of diverse mediums generates multiple, interacting realities, presenting figures in various scenarios and emphasizing contemporary composition.
Chiderah Bosah, a self-taught artist born in 2000 and based in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, began his art career by replicating comic books. His work has since evolved to include oil painting on canvas. Bosah’s art features figurative representation, simplified realism, and portraiture, focusing on the resilient lives of Africans. He uses calm and pale hues to define his unique style, with portraits that explore the inner dialogues of his subjects.
Art: I am because you are, 2022,
Art: Before You Wake Up From Your Dream, 2023
Cherry Aribisala, born in 2000 and based in London, is a Nigerian artist who works in painting, drawing, and printmaking. Her art, influenced by comic books and contemporary figuration, uses expressive brush marks and vibrant colors to create vivid, transcendent realms. Aribisala’s work delves into themes of mental well-being, escapism, vulnerability, and emotional landscapes.
Samuel Nnorom, born in 1990 in Abia, Nigeria, and based in Jos-North, combines tapestry-like sculpture with pre-loved Ankara wax fabric. Influenced by his childhood experiences of sketching and playing with colorful scraps, Nnorom uses materials sourced from tailors and discarded clothes, as well as waste foam, to create vibrant, poetic works. His practice blurs the lines between textiles, painting, and sculpture through sewing, rolling, and suspending. Nnorom explores the identity and significance of fabrics, particularly Ankara, and aims to prompt viewers to critically engage with sociopolitical structures and human conditions.
Art: Selective Collaboration, Used Clothing and Fabrics
Art: Nativity (Death on the Landscape)
Luke Agada, born in 1992 in Lagos and currently based in Chicago, is a Nigerian artist whose work examines globalization, migration, and cultural dislocation through a postcolonial lens. His paintings, characterized by disembodied figures and dream-like settings, explore the intersection of time and space in a postmodern world. Agada's art reflects on the complexities of identity, the Self versus the Other, and the nuances of representation in a globalized context.