The day Nigerian art took the world by storm: Meet Oresegun Olumide and Kelvin Okafor!

A status that started as a throwaway tag on Facebook has become an overnight sensation – two Nigerian artists, Oresegun Olumide and Kelvin Okafor, whose works have left us all marvelling speechlessly – have had their work shared over and over within the last 24 hours and we simply cannot get enough.

Oresegun Olumide is an excellent painter whose way with oil and canvas shows such detail and precision that you would be forgiven for believing you could touch the characters on the canvas. Sadly, there seems to be little information about this talented young man, save that which we already know – a Yaba Tech graduate who lives in Lagos. I sincerely hope that this new-found interest in his work will spur a website or at least some sort of platform that will give us access to him and give him payment for his craft:

Kelvin Okafor is based in the UK and has perfected his craft as a pencil artist, a skill which has made the BBC and several prestigious institutions sit up and take notice, including very recently winning the coveted Columbia Threadneedle Prize 2016 for his poignant piece entitled Jasmine’s Interlude.

You should check out his website: www.kelvinokaforart.com for prints, information and upcoming exhibitions.

Kelvin Okafor stands with his prize winning piece, Jasmin’s Interlude