Oluwole Omofemi has become the subject of increasing international success over the last few years, acclaimed for his powerful portrayal of Afrocentric pride that challenges the Westernised view of Africa. Born in 1988 in the city of Ibadan, Nigeria, the artist explores the nuanced depth and deeply personal stories set in the context of African history and the present day.
Working with oil and acrylic, Omofemi’s bright, bold colours and forms, poignantly presents Black women celebrating their skin and natural hair. In the present work, the two sisters are dressed in simple blue shift garments, offset by halos of bright, fiery-red afro styled hair. This work embodies the artist’s remembrance of the Black Power movement within the global African diaspora in the late 1960s to early 1980s.
The artist’s portraits make a statement against what he views as the deterioration of pride and self-esteem amongst his ‘Black sisters’ today. Women, he feels, have been subject to post-colonial brainwashing to the Western ideals of beauty and society. Omofemi’s works are also imbued with a sense of nostalgia and pining for the days of his grandfather, from the generation who fought for independence against colonial rule, and the golden age of the strength and beauty of Black women. Omofemi honours the power of these figures in their natural beauty. For the artist, true liberation for Africa can only be attained once Black women are free to be their authentic selves and accepted as they are.
• Oluwole Omofemi (born Godwin Oluwole Omofemi in 1988) is a Nigerian artist is represented by Signature African Art and Out of Africa Contemporary Art.
• The artist discovered his strength in conveying the human form at the Polytechnic of Ibadan where he graduated, receiving a Higher National Diploma for his artistic skills.
• His body of work has gained increasing recognition with exhibitions at the Nigerian National Museum and the Alliance Françé, Ibadan as well as prestigious galleries in Lagos, Italy, Belgium, and Ghana.
• In September 2021, the artist was celebrated with his solo exhibition, In Our Days at Signature African Art, London.
