Victor Ehikhamenor
(b. 1970)Victor Ehikhamenor’s immersive works present dynamic, potent portraits of African people and spaces that address the dualities of cultural and political realities, private and public lives, and history and future in present-day Nigeria.
Biography
Victor Ehikhamenor draws inspiration from the aesthetic and spiritual traditions that informed his upbringing. In his painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, and installations, gestural abstraction and stylized forms reveal faces, objects, complex writing systems, and imagery and symbols from Edo religion and Catholicism.
The resulting patterns create a hypnotic viewing experience that invites meditation. His immersive works present dynamic, potent portraits of African people and spaces that address the dualities of cultural and political realities, private and public lives, and history and future in present-day Nigeria.
Storytelling lives at the center of Ehikhamenor’s practice. In addition to his visual work, he is a prolific writer. He has written for the New York Times, BBC, and the Washington Post, among others. He has also worked for Next in Lagos and the Daily Times, the Nigerian national newspaper. Ehikhamenor has designed book covers for award-winning authors, including Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus (New York: Algonquin, 2003) and Helon Habila’s Measuring Time (University of Michigan, 2007). In 2014, he collaborated on a fashion line with Nigerian designer Ituen Basi.
Ehikhamenor received a BA from Ambrose Alli University and an MSc and MFA from the University of Maryland. He is the recipient of numerous fellowships, including from the Norman Mailer Center (2014); the Rockefeller Foundation (2016); and the Nirox Foundation (2016). He was selected as one of four artists to exhibit work in the first Nigerian Pavilion at the 2017 Venice Biennale. Ehikhamenor also founded Angels and Muse, an artist space that supports the promotion and development of contemporary African art and literature in Lagos. His work first entered the Studio Museum’s collection in 2018.
Victor Ehikhamenor
(b. 1970)Victor Ehikhamenor’s immersive works present dynamic, potent portraits of African people and spaces that address the dualities of cultural and political realities, private and public lives, and history and future in present-day Nigeria.
Biography
Victor Ehikhamenor draws inspiration from the aesthetic and spiritual traditions that informed his upbringing. In his painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, and installations, gestural abstraction and stylized forms reveal faces, objects, complex writing systems, and imagery and symbols from Edo religion and Catholicism.
The resulting patterns create a hypnotic viewing experience that invites meditation. His immersive works present dynamic, potent portraits of African people and spaces that address the dualities of cultural and political realities, private and public lives, and history and future in present-day Nigeria.
Storytelling lives at the center of Ehikhamenor’s practice. In addition to his visual work, he is a prolific writer. He has written for the New York Times, BBC, and the Washington Post, among others. He has also worked for Next in Lagos and the Daily Times, the Nigerian national newspaper. Ehikhamenor has designed book covers for award-winning authors, including Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus (New York: Algonquin, 2003) and Helon Habila’s Measuring Time (University of Michigan, 2007). In 2014, he collaborated on a fashion line with Nigerian designer Ituen Basi.
Ehikhamenor received a BA from Ambrose Alli University and an MSc and MFA from the University of Maryland. He is the recipient of numerous fellowships, including from the Norman Mailer Center (2014); the Rockefeller Foundation (2016); and the Nirox Foundation (2016). He was selected as one of four artists to exhibit work in the first Nigerian Pavilion at the 2017 Venice Biennale. Ehikhamenor also founded Angels and Muse, an artist space that supports the promotion and development of contemporary African art and literature in Lagos. His work first entered the Studio Museum’s collection in 2018.