CREATIVE FACTORY ✍🏼🖼

SEMAKO

Born in Badagry,Lagos state in Nigeria on August 23rd,Samuel Semako Vittu is a Nigerian contemporary artist who self discovered his love for arts back in primary school and grew so passionate about it that it became a career choice while he was still in secondary school.

Being so good at it,he had both teachers and students going to him for assistance whenever they had to draw but because art wasn’t a subject back then,he decided to perfect it by training after school with an uncle of his who was already an artist. He further went on to study arts in college and majored in painting in his final year at University of Nigeria,Nsukka.

Semako’s love for animals which is widely portrayed in his works began when he used to visit his grandmother who was also an animal lover as a child during school breaks. He had to tie the cows in a nearby bush every morning so they can feed and also had to make sure to untie them in the evening to take them home. This is undoubtedly one of the major reasons why when decided to search for his own visual language,he figured he’d explore his interest in animals.

Taking notes from artists like Barkley Hendricks and Lyne Laponite,Semako is also inspired by the need to “preach the gospel” of animal preservation and create awareness for the preservation of breeds that are going extinct.

Having participated in a number of exhibitions nationally and internationally,Vittu’s most recent exhibition was a group show in February,2023 titled “Contemporary Redefined Africa Today” organized by Olyms Collection/Sothebys in Tel-Aviv,Israel.

I’m the next five years,Semako wants to be able to confidently know that his message on the need to understand the risk of the extinction of some animals and the needed solutions and factors being put in place to prevent this had been greatly received by his audience. He’ll also love to have his works placed in major museums around the world as it has always been one of his dreams to work with the likes of Gagosian and Tate.

As an artist,he is constantly working towards creating a spark in the viewers mind while producing the urgent need to question their knowledge and understanding about the growing rate of animal deaths by natural disasters or poachers.

Semako uses his art to create self awareness and also embed the human consciousness and thoughts into nonhuman life forms and this is because animals often provide a moral mirror for the reflection of the best and worst of the human race,so with each piece he creates ,he seeks to educate and create the hunger for more knowledge on animal preservation.

DELA ANYAH

Delasi Kekeli Anyah known in the art space as Dela Anyah is a Ghanaian contemporary artist born in 1986,who at age four tried countless times to replicate an impressionist style painting of a farm which hung in their hall.

Greatly inspired by the concept of being born again(rebirth),Avant-garde fashion,Asian calligraphy,traditional African art and African naming customs,Dela opted for his style of art because he sees value in discarded objects and loves the concept of up-cycling.

This is why he continues to explore the materiality of discarded inner tubes,using garment making techniques such as weaving and patchwork while addressing environmental issues linked to polymer waste.

After partaking in an open call by Alliance Francais d’Accra in 2018 to create an artwork for the “International Day For The Elimination of Violence Against Women” for which he was shortlisted,Dela began an in-depth study on traditional African art ,focusing on the use of found objects as an artistic medium.

Having participated in a number of groups exhibitions both nationally and internationally,he had his first solo exhibition in 2019 in Accra,Ghana and has since had about three solo exhibitions with the most recent one being “Elementary Rebirth” which was held at the Nubuke Foundation from May to June,2023.

Dela wants his viewers to not only focus on the beauty and interesting look of his works but rather look beyond and connect with each piece in such a way that they feel just as beautiful and unique as the works they’re viewing because it doesn’t matter how low,discarded or worthless an object may be,it still has value and therefore when applied to humans,one must trust the master artist(God) to be able to turn even the seemingly hopeless and wasted life into a beautiful and a life worth living.

TAKO UNIVERSE

Terence Ntsako Maluleke is a South African fine artist,director and visual developer born and raised in Johannesburg in the year 1995.

Unable to tell the exact age he got into arts,he remembers getting encouraged by his primary school teacher to take arts seriously,heeding the advice of his teacher,Ntsako decided to get more out of growing passion for arts by enrolling at the National School of the Arts,a high school in Johannesburg.

This was a very defining moment for him as his love for arts deepened,imagination expanded and artistic prowess got refined. At this point he was trying out all the known mediums except animation.

The common yet not so ordinary day to day things and places he finds himself greatly contribute to some of the elements that inspire his unique style and this is the reason why he’s very sensitive to his surroundings and always looks forward to conceptualizing them in meaningful ways.

As a fine artist,Ntsako has had four major exhibitions but has lots of credit to his name as an animator and is constantly working towards merging both.

In a few years,Maluleke envisions himself growing and expanding,working on large scale canvases with more clarity while developing mastery as a fine artist and looks forward to spearheading both personal and professional projects as a visual developer.

Ntsako strongly believes he owes it to his viewers to recreate without excluding the sense of familiarity and authenticity they know and have towards their surroundings and the things within.

Determined to go as far as possible while aiming to reach a greater audience as a fine artist and visual director regardless of the circumstances is what he is working towards because he doesn’t buy into the idea of putting limits on himself.

Then again,Ntsako constantly seeks to create meaning with his pieces,process and practice both for himself and his viewers.

AL HASSAN

Born and raised in Kumasi in September 1993,AL Hassan Issah is a Ghanaian contemporary artist who delved into arts,precisely drawings at the very early stages of his life,stating emphatically that “he doesn’t remember any specific period in his life were he wasn’t drawing”.

This greatly influenced his education as he studied arts in high school,went on to receive his bachelor of fine arts certificate from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in 2018 and a Master of Fine Arts certificate in 2023 from the same university.

Hassan’s fascination with painting and it’s relation to sculpture and architecture,years of investigation,consistency,how the cities subconsciously answer some of his complex questions with regards to paintings and his interest in the histories that shape our contemporary sociopolitical landscape led him to creating the pieces he’s known for.

The Wind’s Eyes,2022 exhibited at Savvy Contemporary

Although he’s inspired by quite a number of people and things ,the most essential ones are artists like Godfred Donkor,Karikacha Seidou who happened to be his supervisor,his day to day strolls around the city of Kumasi and the everyday life within every city he finds himself in.

As an artist,Hassan has had both local and international exhibitions in countries like Ghana,Togo,France,Germany,America,with his most recent body of works being exhibited across three cities in Ghana.

The exhibition titled “KUM ASE:A FIELD FILLED WITH GOLDEN SPIKES” was a solo exhibition that had works of Hassan being exhibited in Kumasi,Accra and Tamale. Each city had fascinating and captivating pieces because “Hassan leaves no room in making his works appear familiar and yet unfamiliar”.

“Kumasi or Kum Ase,which the inspired Hassan Issah’s practice,has it’s origin-myths marked by the “Kum tree”. The Kum tree to which the title of the show was after,is of special importance and token to the birth of Kumasi and the consolidation of the first Ashanti states in the 17th century.Kumasi’s history from the 17th century reveals assimilation of different cultures in its art,architecture,clothing,language;just like in every culture,shaped by trade,natural disasters,religion,war and so on;interacting with diverse cultures and continents.”

Having his works exhibited across the globe is where he sees himself in a few years time but most importantly he dreams of having his works in every part of Ghana.

With regards to viewers,Hassan wants his works to trigger memories and emotions in each viewers mind. Capturing their emotions and making them feel a strong sense of attachment with each piece they view.

Willing to go as far as his works can go,expanding and growing without limits,Hassan seeks to gift his life’s work to humanity,make himself accessible,share,love and care through art.

CHOTO

Moving to London with his family at age five but born in Harare,Zimbabwe in January,1995,Gabriel Tendai Choto is a contemporary artist who’s practice has evolved over the years.

Doodling at age five with little to mo idea on what art was really about,eventually got used to seeing and hearing about “white” artists and their works and this led to living with the misconception that one had to born in a certain era or had to be about forty years old to become an artist.

Finally getting the answers and motivation he needed to become an artist as a 17 years old “black kid” living in London was a rare time he sat flicking through channels and chanced on an art show “The African Masters” on Africa Chanel. This was an eye opening moment for him because he saw both young and old “black folks” like himself showcasing their unique art prowess and visual language in what was termed “contemporary arts”.

This led to his etching and printmaking process at age 19,gradually evolving and developing as an artist he decided to pursue art courses and started by getting his extended foundation diploma in art and design at Leeds Arts University. This period also served as a defining moment for him both personally and as an artist because he lost his grandfather a month to his graduation and in his memory he thought to do away with the style he was known for and rather paint his grandfather for his degree show and because he had just two weeks to present his work, he started off with printmaking,painted his grandfather’s head and after a long pause ,concluded the piece was better when left that way,just a painted head with lines.

One of his first printmaking and etching pieces

To his surprise he had many people showing interest in his new style and body of work so he built upon it and came up with a series of works which had the same style and a similar approach.

He went back to school for his undergraduate degree from Camberwell College of Arts (BA Hons in fine art and drawing) then went on to get his masters in fine arts at Central Saint Martin’s University.

Amidst all these Choto has had quite a number of exhibitions and won some awesome art awards. He was selected for the Clyde & Co Art Award in 2018,was the winner of the Clifford Chance Printmaking Purchase Prize in 2019,participated in about 17 group exhibitions and had three solo exhibitions with his most recent one at Ada Contemporary Art Gallery in Accra,Ghana(April,2023) titled “DEEP,DEEP IN THE BELLY OF THE EARTH”.

Currently working on new series of works inspired by his relationship with his father,Choto seeks to highlight the positive aspects of life with his oil painted heads and faces instead of dwelling on the negatives in life which he represents with the lines in his works.

He strongly believes that come what may once you focus on the positive side or things,you’ll always find a way out of every situation.

He wants viewers to relate and be reminded of what it means to be human whenever they come across his works,in the sense that they’ll be able to connect with the emotions oozing out of the paintings.

In the next five years Choto sees himself wherever his works take him,as far as his works can go because to him allowing the works evolve on their own will mean they can go very far and reach a wider audience and once his works are at the top ,he’ll definitely be there as well.

OLUBANKOLE

Born in “Bariga” a town in Lagos, Nigeria in the year 1995, Olabode Bankole grew up with the urge to always create things out of the items he founds around himself. Looking back on how it all started,he vividly remembers how he grab a pen to scribble chicken lines in an attempt to outline the faintly dotted floral patterns he found on each page of his mother’s dairy while she was away and this was when he was just eight years old.

Holding on to his dreams,he studied fine and applied arts at the prestigious Yaba College of Technology in 2012 and graduated in 2015. Bankole strongly believes Art chose him and not the other way round and it’s as a result of the level of assiduity he gave to it and that diligence has transformed into the style he’s now known for.

To him,this style betrays the normalcy in many ways due to its unconventionality in terms of narrative,style and philosophy.Although he’s yet to get a label for his unique sense of style,he’s of the view that the narrative is what people should pay more attention to.

Inspired by the classics of William Higginson,Pawel Kuczysnski,Banksy,Damien Hirst and the conscious music of the legendary Fela Anikulapo Kuti,Brymo,Michael Jackson,just to mention a few. Having participated in a number of exhibitions with his most recent one being “Road Less Traveled” in February 2023, he sees himself making greater impact in the art space and in the lives of others.

Not only does he want his works to draw viewers in,he wants viewers to feel the grievances,struggles and aspirations buried in his narrative,understand them and think of ways to effect positive changes wherever they find themselves.

Bankole is willing to go as far as transforming lives with his works(narrative),reforming ill belief systems and writing a good chapter to go down in history for prosperity’s relevance.

He rigorously seeks to impart and impact with each body of work he creates because to him,art goes beyond its aesthetic functionalities. It reveals knowledge,is therapeutic to the soul and has the ability to transform lives.

ELANGWE

Not being able to pursue any arts related course didn’t deter him from following his dreams so he understudied and was mentored by other senior artists in his field of study.

Sesse Elangwe Ngeseli is a Cameroonian contemporary artist born in February,1994 in Cameron,who self discovered his love for arts at the tender age of five.

Sesse paints because it is the easiest way to express himself as a creative,artists like Kerry James Marshall,Kehinde Wiley,Amy Sherald and the thought of making a difference in the world through his art greatly inspire him.

Sesse has had three solo exhibitions,two in United States and one in Paris. He’s also been a part of multiple group shows in the United States,Europe,Australia and Africa.

I’m five years time,he hopes to see and have his works in museums and big collections and also looks forward to growth and improvement as an artist.

Beauty,engagement in positive conversations geared towards changing the world and a sense of belonging is what Sesse wants viewers to see and feel when they come across any of his works.

He’s steadily working towards changing the mindsets of people while documenting his contemporary artist journey for the future generation.

In his own words,”if the sky is the highest one can go with his craft,he is determined to go above it”.

RONRON ART

Terron Cooper Sorrells is a contemporary artist born in Portsmouth,Va in September,1994. A lover of arts who has literally been practicing his entire life,Ron won the enviable title of “artist of the week” with a drawing he made at age six.

Actively involved in some sort of extracurricular art program since the fifth grade,which consisted of a variety of practices including drawing,sculpture and airbrushing,Ron developed intense passion for arts. He was later admitted into the Magnet and Ap Art programs in high school as well as the Summer Residential Governor’s Program. He further studied painting and printmaking at the Maryland Institute College of Art(MICA), graduating with a BFA in 2016.

One of his major reasons for specializing in painting is the ability to vividly create whole realities,new representations and correct histories. To him,the power is very alluring,then again the only other form of art that moves him the way painting does is music but he wasn’t good enough with the piano to pursue that.

Ron gains a lot of his technical inspiration from the northern renaissance artists like Jan Van Eyck and Albrect Durer, with a good wealth coming from the 1600s painters like Caravaggio,Rembrandt and Rubens. Conceptually he looks to the colors of artists like Jacob Lawrence,the gumption of Kara Walker and the scale of Kerry James Marshall.

Terron has had three solo exhibitions to date: in DC,LA and New York City. He’s also had quite a number of group exhibitions,one notably in Dubai,UAE titled “Unity”. In the next five years he believes he will become a household name in the art world and secure his first solo museum exhibition.

With almost all his works being pretty large and immersive,when viewers approach them,he wants them to feel as if they have stepped into the scenes of whichever work they’re viewing. Secondly,there is a narrative in majority of his paintings,so part of the experience is discovering the story and also the last thing he considers is cultural significance.

Nothing makes him want to create more than having someone tell him his images needed to exist,this reaffirms that there’s a greater purpose for all of this. Consistently putting in work,Ron has big goals for the future of his works and seeks to work hard to achieve them.

Ultimately,he’s love to see his works hanging in American art wings all over the states. He definitely has international aspirations but to him it’s most important that his people see themselves represented in these institutions.

ROASTED KWEKU

Samuel Darko Awuku popularly known in the creative space as Roasted Kweku is a Ghanaian photographer born in Suhum in the Eastern Region in the year 1997. Kweku discovered his love for arts back in primary school were he constantly found himself drawing images and doodles behind his books.

Fortunately,his family drew his attention to the fact that he could actually become an artist and this influenced his decision to study visual arts in senior high school.

His love for arts got intense when he found out he could no longer further his education due to insufficient funds,this fueled his passion even more because he realized he still had a chance to make something out of his passion.

He tried many forms of art to express his feelings,help establish himself and also earn some money to take care of himself. After years of trying,he settled on photography because he discovered it tells his story perfectly.

Kweku is inspired by his past,the daily struggles of life and the works of Alessio Albi. As an artist,he has exhibited with Trybe Africa in Ghana,New York,Geneva Switzerland and is currently planning an exhibition in Germany.

Samuel wants people across the globe to understand that art can be sourced from everywhere regardless of the beauty and style. With his works geared towards the youth,he is focused on bringing their attention to the fact that it takes dedication and effort to do what one loves.

He hopes his works bring peace and comfort to people struggling in life and also bring innovative ideas to people by making them understand that with hard work and consistency anything is possible.

Samuel is willing to go all out to push his concepts and work to the rest of the world. When all is said and done,he wants the world to remember his name,stories and his way of expression.

SHOLOLA

Laju Sholola is a Nigerian contemporary artist born in Lagos in 1989.With a strong passion for arts even at a very tender age,Laju eagerly looked forward to her elementary art classes and any free time she had to draw as a young girl.

As a self taught artist who didn’t pursue any arts course at the university,she strongly believes art has and will always be a part of her life. In the beginning stages,Laju created works just for the love of it but has had redefining moments that have helped develop her skills over the years and has inspired her to keep pursuing arts till today.

Currently experimenting with an unorthodox medium which is “black tea” to tell her stories as she’s mostly drawn to figurative drawings and paintings and enjoys the process of drawing the human form.

Laju has explored mediums such as acrylic,pastel,charcoal and graphite in her previous works and all these mediums help her showcase the human form in ways that feel engaging and relatable.

She applies the “black tea” in a way that makes it look like transparent,layered,fluid patterns on the skins and backgrounds of her paintings which she translates to the myriad of emotions we feel as humans.Laju is shedding light on the different combinations of our internal feelings and experiences that make up who we are through the application of this method.

Greatly inspired by human experiences,she draws a lot of inspiration from the journey of personal growth and lets the emotions flow through the works she creates.

Laju has participated in a number of exhibitions with the most recent one being ArtX Lagos International art fair in 2022 and in the next five years ,she looks forward to growth both in her personal life and in that of her works.

With regards to her works,she wants her viewers to feel an emotional connection,pause and have a moment to relate with the works, but most of all wants her works to encourage us to appreciate our unique paths and journey regardless of what it may seem or look like.

“I’m willing to explore my preferred mediums and ideas,expand on them as much I can because I believe there are no limits” says Laju Sholola.