Young, Inky and Profound: The Young Nigerian Art Scene.

2016 has agreeably been a horrible year, following the deaths of many beloved creative icons and of course the Nigerian recession, but it seems this gloomy year has also shed a bright light on the creative minds of Nigerian Youth. 2016, well for me especially, has had an explosion of creative talent amongst the young Nigerians. Ranging masterpieces from art to photography to music to film and of course poetry/spoken word, 2016 has ushered in a certain aesthetic that I have identified with its artworks throughout the year. It’s no 2010 i’ll tell you that, where cameras were simply an extension of your necklace and painting and drawing were mostly limited to art classes in school. This my friends is 2016 for the young and WOKE and for those embracing their artistic liberties.

Contentro by @O.Sammie on instagram

The work created in this year, I believe has a very strong visual theme across all the fields. Firstly in photography, it first and foremost heralded the bloom in Nigerian creativity, starting with the aforementioned canon-necklace more-fashion-trend-than-photography movement in 2010. But 6 years later the look of young Nigerian photography is much different to the grainy vignetted black and white photography of the years preceding it. Now, it crosses over a crisp look with graphic design, paintings, profound creativity and of course a very rich awareness of the radiance of black skin (yes, melanin is popping). It features luminous black skin, high cheekbones and a message of true expression. It’s evident in the works of young photographers like @bEnsonedo__ @viewsfrom7th @DAMIE__ @jimiagboola. It’s common especially in the works of photographers in bustling Nigerian private universities.

By Ben Edokpayi

By Jimi Agboola

 

On to Painting! I think this has to be where creatives use their art to express their WOKEDNESS the most (I know that’s not a word but poetic license). Here I have witnessed more and more a strong awareness of black skin and more importantly black women and their trials and tribulations. This is so important for us because we need to harness our culture being black and Nigerian wherever we are, and our african roots are being embraced especially in the paintings of 2016, well within young Nigerians that is. It’s no surprise as this has coincided with a lot of the the social media movements from 2014 till date incited by the racial discrimination faced by africans and other dark skinned groups all over the world, the most popular one being #BlackLivesMatter amongst others. Clear examples of painters are @Azeeza_ES @ebube_onoh @Gunna_ZD.

By Ebube Onoh

By Azeeza ES

On to the next one! The film scene. Okay, the first few things I see when I think of the film visual map are deep hues, high contrast and faded blues. Filmography now is incredibly "aesthetic" and very “vibey” usually supported by the equally “vibey”music that follows it . It blurs between lovely out of focus lights and richly toned rooms. It’s just the way it goes! The film scene of this year I think epitomises creative culture of our modern age because of its rich, deep look that uses film as an art form in a way it hasn’t really been used before especially in Nigeria, where traditional filmmaking is well, lets not go there. But we all love home videos don’t we.


There are still so many segments of art that are being beautifully developed like graphic design which is incredibly playful and flavoured and more recently cartoons! With the likes of @DataPepple blooming with her quirky cartoons. Another thing that has also especially pushed the young Nigerian art scene are platforms that promote young artists and are also likewise run by young Nigerians like @Lucidlemons, @CYouthD, underscorea.com, culturecustodian.com and many more, these platforms are dedicated to stimulating and promoting young nigerian minds.

By Stephanie Amata :)