Edozie Anedu Nigerian , b. 1997
“Painting is like a conversation for me and every stroke prompts a certain type of response and you just go on, trying to balance the whole equation and at the end a beautiful picture is painted”.
Watching Edozie at work in his studio in Benin City in Nigeria can be quite entertaining, an almost performance art piece in itself. Edozie converses with his canvas as he applies his paint in aggressive strokes taking inspiration from alternative music that plays in the background.
“Painting is like a conversation for me and every stroke prompts a certain type of response and you just go on, trying to balance the whole equation and at the end a beautiful picture is painted”.
Edozie Anedu is a self taught artist based in Benin City, Nigeria. Working primarily with oils, acrylics, pastels and recycled materials, Anedu’s paintings employ elemental forms and figures that verge on the abstract. He references graffiti and mural art traditions to focus his work on popular culture, music and fashion, socio political ideologies and the human condition.
Edozie Anedu is a consummate painter whose spirited color palette the artist subjects to exhilarating experiments which draw from diverse materials and design principles. A prominent feature of his artistic practice is the exploration of self and how an artist’s understanding of the world influences his ability to reflect on social issues and offer timely social commentary. Anedu’s first solo exhibition Mistakes I Chose to Keep, curated by Wunika Mukan, was held in 2019. He has also participated in notable group exhibitions in the United States (Bill Brady Gallery), the United Kingdom (Unit London) and in Nigeria (kó Gallery, Thought Pyramid Art Centre).
Drawing from personal experience, Anedu’s unflinching use of colour and often aggressive brush strokes express a freedom of emotion that commands the attention. His childlike and seemingly haphazard strokes are in conversation with his own coming of age story – a journey of excitement, adjustments and hopeful rush to the future. His work embraces a synthesis of innocence, trial and error, memory and melancholy.
-
A group show at kó art space Joseph Obanubi, Stephen Tayo, and Edozie Anedu Investigate their Hometown Lagos
Experimenting with new ideas and techniques, the artists' new bodies of work presented in this exhibition, exploring the social and architectural fabric of Lagos. 22 Jan 2021Landscape Mode is Edozie Anedu’s first foray into what he describes as “imaginative cityscape paintings.” Rather than a complete departure from his previous figurative paintings,...Read more -
Melrose Gallery pan-African group exhibition at Sandton City's Diamond Walk extended
21 Jan 2021The Melrose Gallery is currently showcasing the Introspection - Art Of Contemporary Africa group exhibition, which features established and emerging artists from Africa, at Sandton...Read more -
The Medium is the Message, exhibition in London
Edozie Anedu 2 Nov 2020The Medium is the Message we can therefore say finds purpose in curating nuanced work. It contains work from a group of artists that explores...Read more -
Native Exclusive: Meet Edozie Anedu, The Benin Based Artist Behind Drb’s ‘Pioneers’ Cover Art
12 May 2020I think my story is special. I have the role to break boundaries and connect more people, especially here in Nigeria. The connection we once...Read more
