Ayobola Kekere-Ekun

Ayobola Kekere-Ekun is a Nigerian contemporary visual artist.

Life

Ayobola Kekere-Ekun was born in 1993 in Lagos, Nigeria. She had an interest in art from a very young age, which was nurtured through classes and support from her parents. Kekere-Ekun finished a degree in Graphic Design at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka in 2009 and also received her Master's Degree in the same field in 2016. She is the Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Creative Arts at the University of Lagos.[1]

As of 2022, Kekere-Ekun was finishing her Ph.D., which started in 2018, in Art and Design at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa.[2][3]

Artistic practice

Kekere-Ekun combines her fascination with lines with a method called paper quilling,[2] to form the visual aesthetic for her work.[4] Her works highlight the themes of Nigerian femininity and its history, mythology, power dynamics and equality and their practical effects within Nigerian social spaces that may be prejudiced toward women.[5] The artist investigates Nigerian femininity within historical and contemporary times alongside other themes particular to her social and geographical context.

Kekere-Ekun has exhibited her work at Rele Art Gallery in Lagos, Nigeria (2019);[6] Guns & Rain, Johannesburg, South Africa (2019)[7] and No End Contemporary Art Space (2019) in Johannesburg,[8] South Africa and The Koppel Project Hive (2018) in London, England.[9]

Select exhibitions
  • 2020: Young Contemporaries Alumni Group Show (January), Rele Gallery, Lagos
  • 2019: Resilient Lines, Rele Gallery, Lagos, April (Solo)[6]
  • 2019: Suffrage, Guns and Rains, Johannesburg, July[7]
  • 2019: Imagine the Opposite, No End Contemporary, Johannesburg, May[8]
  • 2018: Cu-ulture and Tradition: Same Experience, Different Local, Koppel Project Hive, London, October[9]
  • 2017: Her Story, Rele Gallery, Lagos, February[10]

Art Fairs
  • 2018: Kekere-Ekun participated in ArtX Lagos,[5]
  • 2019: West Africa's first international art fair, her works were shown in both Latitude art fair and Turbine Art Fair[11] in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Art magazines
  • 2021: Featured in the "Artafrica"[12] magazine

Reviews

Kekere-Ekun's solo exhibition "Resilient Lines" 2019 is described as a necessary exhibition that discusses the politics of femininity within Nigeria.[13] The artist is currently working in a time that seeks to write into history, the legacies of female artists in Nigeria that have often been disregarded in the past.[14] Overall, her work is seen as vital, in contributing to the Nigerian community of art, that seeks to celebrate female artists in the country.[15]

Honors

In 2018, Kekere-Ekun received a prize for Creativity from The Future Awards Africa (TFAA).[16] In the same year, she also received a $5,000 grant by music producer, Swizz Beats and musician, Alicia Keys,[17] which she used to fund her solo exhibition, "Resilient Lines" at Rele Art Gallery in Lagos, Nigeria. In 2016, she received a grant from The Rele Art Foundation, as part of their "Young Contemporaries" program.[18] Other awards she has received are the University of Lagos Convocation Prize in 2014 and the United States Consulate General 'Women's History Month' Art Contest in 2012.[19] Ayobola Kekere-Ekun has been selected as one of the winners of the 2021 "Absa L'Atelier.'

References
  1. "Staff Directory". University of Lagos. 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  2. Ollie Macnaughton. "Nigerian artist Ayobola Kekere-Ekun creates her colorful works from folded paper". CNN. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  3. "University of Johannesburg Annual Report" (PDF). University of Johannesburg. 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-07-10. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  4. Bitrus, Byenyan Jessica (2019-07-11). "To Be Free: Interview with Ayobola Kekere-Ekun | By Byenyan Jessica Bitrus". The Sole Adventurer. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  5. "Ayobola Kekere-Ekun – ART X Lagos – West Africa's 1st International Art Fair". Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  6. "Resilient Lines by Ayobola Kekere-Ekun". rele. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  7. "Ayobola Kekere-Ekun". Guns & Rain. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  8. "Imagine the Opposite". Issuu. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  9. "The Koppel Project - Breaking Shells". The Koppel Project. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  10. "HerStory". rele. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  11. "Gallery Focus" (PDF). Guns and Rain. 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  12. douw. "Absa L'Atelier 2021 announces four category winners - Art Africa Magazine". Retrieved 2021-11-14.
  13. "Ayobola Kekere-Ekun: Resilient Lines". Contemporary And (in German). 2019-04-09. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  14. "Creating A Legacy of Nigerian Female Artists". guardian.ng. 19 December 2016. Archived from the original on 2017-07-03. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  15. Mitter, Siddhartha (2019-02-08). "Lagos, City of Hustle, Builds an Art 'Ecosystem'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  16. "The Future Awards Africa Prize for Creativity". The Future Awards Africa. 2018-12-02. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  17. "Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys Launch New Art Grant, Giving 20 Artists $5,000 Each". Hyperallergic. 2018-06-15. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  18. "Throwback to Young Contemporaries 2016". rele. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  19. "Artist of the Week – Ayobola Kekere-Ekun". Art635 Virtual Museum. 2018-02-26. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
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