Uche Okeke, born in northern Nigeria to an Igbo family, founded the Zaria Art Society (1957–1961) with fellow students Demas Nwoko and Simon Okeke while he was a second-year student at the Nigerian College of Arts, Science, and Technology. Okeke would have been about twenty- six years of age when he painted this Post-Impressionist-inspired portrait, a year before the publication of the Natural Synthesis manifesto and political independence in Nigeria. The predominant colour, Nigerian indigo, bathes the walls behind him and reflects across his chest, a reference to the ancient culture of indigo dying. From the shadows on the wall to his left, which appears darker, Okeke looks at us intently, relaxed, melancholic, beautiful, ready for the dawn of a new Nigeria.
This is the first time the work of Uche Okeke is featured at Biennale Arte.
—Nancy Dantas
