Lot 6 – Kingsley Obasi, Olosho

LOT 6KINGSLEY OBASI (NIGERIAN B.1983)OLOSHO
signed Obasi Kingsley lower right; inscribed Exhibition / Olosho / 130 x 120cm / Obasi Kingsley / 2018 on the reverse
oil on canvas
130 x 123cm; 51 1/8 x 48 3/8in
unframed

Property of a Private Collector, Maryland, USA

Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist

Estimate
£2,000 – £3,000
Buyer’s premium: 25.00% + VAT

Born in Abia State, Nigeria, Kingsley Obasi has developed a striking figurative style that has drawn recent international attention.
After studying at Yaba College of Technology, Obasi worked as as an art teacher in Lagos before transitioning to full-time practice.
His work has been showcased at Signature African Art Gallery in London, including a solo exhibition in 2019 and a group show in 2021 titled One’s Guise. His work has also been shown at Fondation Gandur pour l’Art, Geneva.
Obasi’s portraits blend historical and contemporary influences, presenting an array of fictional, historical and popular figures and often exaggerating his subjects’ eyes, exposing the tension between outward appearances and inner realities.
Olosho, dated 2018, is among the largest and most ambitious of Obasi’s figural works. The directness of its engagement, the Yoruba word olosho carrying a complex charge of social designation and stigma, is characteristic of an artist committed to examining those who exist at the margins of society.