Meet 3 Nigerian Artists Working with Collage

Since the invention of paper, artists have layered images and incorporated autonomous elements into their works, but it wasn’t until the landmark cubist forays of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in the early 20th Century, that collage was acknowledged as an artistic medium. Due to its growing traction, numerous Nigerian artists have embraced techniques of layering, juxtaposing and remixing.

Chike Obeagu (b.1975, Enugu, Nigeria) adopts a hybrid of photo collage and painting. His subjects are characterized by eyeballs that bulge out of their form and large lips, giving a caricature like essence. Obeagu’s densely layered compositions are thematically allegorical, as he uses religious symbolism, technology and popular culture artefacts, to comment on the social and political environment of the day.  Obeagu earned both his bachelors and master’s degrees from University of Nsukka, Nigeria and currently lectures in the Department of Visual and Creative Arts, Federal University, Lafia.

 Through his collages, Adekola (b.1966, Nigeria) constructs a multi-sensory composite, whereby the fluidity of movement merges with electrifying hues and layered texture. A trained architect, his collages are sometimes composed from geometric planes and infinite shapes. Adekola explores subjects from the history of polo in ancient warfare to facets of Nigerian culture.

A graduate of the prestigious University of Nsukka, Obinna Makata (b.1981, Enugu, Nigeria) uses lines and fabric which metaphorically represent culture and values, to create a landscape of collage. His figures look compact, yet loosely constructed with spindly legs and a cartoonish visage. Makata layers fabrics in order to attain a “floating” element to his objects. His works are a visual conversation on quotidian issues in contemporary Nigerian society.