18.08.1963–present
Olu Ajayi
Olu Ajayi (1963–2025) began as an illustrator and staff cartoonist for Nigerian newspapers and later became one of the country’s early watercolour painters. From 2008 to 2014 he headed the Lagos chapter of the Society of Nigerian Artists and created two of its annual events. He exhibited in Nigeria, Africa, Europe, the USA and Canada.
Biography
In the Nigerian newspapers of the 1980s his name appeared under comic strips. Olu Ajayi drew the illustrations for “Xanti” by Neville Ukoli and the “Aboki” strip for the Sunday edition of The Sunday Observer, and at The Nigerian Observer he was the staff cartoonist. Both newspapers have long since ceased publication.
He was born on 18 August 1963 and came from Ososo, in the Akoko Edo area of Edo State. In 1984 he graduated from Auchi Polytechnic with a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Fine Arts.
He later became a professional artist and art reviewer, and over more than forty years moved from studio practice to organisational work. According to accounts of his career, he was one of the early Nigerian watercolourists. After joining the Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA), he rose to chair its Lagos State chapter, a post he held from 2008 to 2014. Under him two events appeared that mark the society’s annual programme: October Rain and Art Café. He was one of the founders of the Guild of Professional Artists of Nigeria and a trustee of it, sat on the board of the Visual Art Society of Nigeria (VASON), and was made a Fellow of the Society of Nigerian Artists. His name is included in the Who is Who in Art compendium and in a list of the Top 100 Artists. He worked as a consultant for local and international art platforms and wrote reviews of exhibitions: he discussed, for example, Funnso Ogunlade’s “A Promise of Harvest” and Humphrey Bekaren’s “A New Pride”, Abraham Ogbodo’s “Painting a New Order” and Chinwe Uwatse’s “A Blaze of Colour”.
He exhibited in Nigeria, South Africa, the USA, the UK, Canada and other European countries. His works were bought by banks, churches, galleries and large companies, and some pieces were made on commission for them.
In his painting he looked to the Nigerian art scene of the 1980s, to Adolph Frederick Reinhardt and to Salvador Dalí. Most often he painted female figures in bold, bright colours: semi-invented human figures caught in unguarded poses. Among his known canvases is “Market by the Palace” (1999), oil.
Olu Ajayi died on 23 May 2025 at St. Nicholas Hospital in Lagos.
Profile notes