Africa has always been home to talented artists, thanks to the presence of a multitude of cultures, all steeped in different creative traditions. Art has historically been a part of daily life; whether it be in the form of carving functional utensils like calabashes and gourds, weaving baskets and mats, blacksmithing weapons, tools and jewellery, textile production and garment making, or the creation of religious sculptures.
All across the continent, some iconic figures have been pivotal to the development of the African art scene. It’s only right to spotlight them, learn about them and keep the memory of their contributions alive. Here’s a non-exhaustive list:
- Chief Nike Davies-Ogundaye (Nigeria) – Textile Designer
Chief Nike Davies-Okundaye, also known as Nike Okundaye, Nike Twins Seven Seven, Nike Olaniyi, and affectionately as Mama Nike, is a Nigerian batik and Adire textile designer. She globalised Nigerian textile art and has trained thousands of young artists. She is the owner of Nike Art Gallery, one of the largest galleries in Africa.
- Esther Mahlangu (South Africa) – Painter
Dr Esther Mahlangu is arguably South Africa’s most renowned visual artist globally. For over 7 decades, she has taken traditional Ndebele painting techniques and brought them into the contemporary art world. She has travelled the world and collaborated with museums, global brands, and celebrities.
- Ben Enwonwu (Nigeria) – Painter/Sculptor
Born Odinigwemmadu Benedict Enwonwu, he was one of Africa’s foremost artists with a career that spanned five decades. He was one of the first Nigerians to be trained in European techniques, and the first African to graduate from the Slade School of Fine Art in London. He was also an art teacher in Nigeria and a member of the Negritude movement, celebrating Africa and Blackness through art.
- El Anatsui (Ghana) – Sculptor
El Anatsui is one of the most acclaimed artists in African history. He is best known for large, intricate sculptures made from discarded materials including bottle caps, wire, graters and newspaper printing plates. He was trained at the College of Art, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. After graduation, he taught at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, for over 40 years.
- Gerard Sekoto (South Africa) – Painter/Musician
Born in 1913, Gerard Sekoto was one of the first South African artists to break into the European art world. He used art as social commentary, painting portraits of township life under apartheid. Although he was largely unrecognised by his home country until towards the end of his life, he is widely regarded as one of the forefathers of Black South African art.
- Wangechi Mutu (Kenya) – Multimedia Artist
Creating works that challenge femininity, race, and body politics through film, sculpture, collages, and performances, Wangechi Mutu’s Afrofuturist art moves through cultural traditions. Her education was focused on Fine Art and Anthropology, from several institutions including Parsons School of Art and Design and Yale School of Art.
- Cheri Samba (D.R. Congo) – Painter
Also called Samba wa Mbimba N’zingo Nuni Masi Ndo Mbasi, he is one of the best-known contemporary African artists. His paintings usually feature text in French and Lingala. Taking inspiration from his work as a billboard painting apprentice and a comic strip painter, he began creating paintings on sackcloth, as canvas was too expensive. His work illuminates everyday life in Kinshasa: societal norms, corruption and inequality, sex and sexuality, AIDS and other illnesses.
- Ladi Kwali (Nigeria) – Potter/Ceramicist
Ladi Dosei Kwali was born and trained in the Gwari region of Northern Nigeria in what is now called Kwali Area Council, Abuja. Even though she was trained in modern wheel-throwing, she created pots using the traditional free-hand method and decorating them by incising lines in the shapes of various animals, filling the lines with porcelain, and firing under high temperatures. This created pots that were too heavy to be used for water storage and cooling, making them solely fine art pieces. She educated hundreds of potters and is the only woman featured on Nigerian currency (N20 note).
- Skunder Boghossian (Ethiopia) – Painter/Art Teacher
Alexander “Skunder” Boghossian was one of the first contemporary Black African artists to gain international acclaim, and the first to have his work purchased by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). He juxtaposed elements of Western art with those from his own cultural background to challenge the idea that any art form different from the Western ideal was “primitive”. He trained at Central Saint Martins College of Art and the Slade School of Fine Art, before teaching back home in Ethiopia and America at the height of the Black Power movement.
- Magdalene Odundo (Kenya) – Ceramicist
Magdalene Odundo blurs gendered lines by creating pottery pieces which reference the female body (as pottery is traditionally a female art form), but creates them not as utilitarian pieces but as sculpture, which is traditionally a masculine art. With her work present in many of the world’s leading galleries and museums, she is considered one of the foremost ceramicists working today.
