‘I see art as truth, and truth beauty. I believe the more beauty we see, the more we evolve. Such beauty may impact our quality of life, and advance the contemporary world.’

– FELIX OSIEMI

Christie’s and the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) in Nigeria are collaborating to raise funds for MOWAA and its initiatives to create a cultural ecosystem in Benin City, based on the art of the past, present and future. A number of artists have generously agreed to donate original works of art to the auction, including Kehinde Wiley, Yinka Shonibare, Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Lakwena Maciver and Victor Ehikhamenor. Proceeds from the sale of the works will go towards MOWAA initiatives including the presentation of the Nigeria Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia, 2024—commissioned by the Governor of Edo State and also curated by Aindrea Emelife—and the 20-acre Creative Campus, including the Rainforest Gallery. Designed by the Dakar-based architecture firm Worofila, the Rainforest Gallery will be dedicated to showcasing Modern and Contemporary art, as well as historic exhibitions.

Born in Nigeria and based in Philadelphia, Felix Osiemi paints works defined by their lustrous colour and graceful dance forms. The artist derives much of his inspiration from travelling and meeting people—he intends for his work to embody shared human experiences, to provide a common visual language that can be understood by all of his viewers. Osiemi was born in 1961, shortly after Nigeria had been granted its full independence. The consequent strengthening of cultural and national identity which persisted within Nigeria throughout his childhood years is relayed in his work today. His subjects are deeply emotive, yet conveyed with solid linework; they are both steadfast and fragile. The broad emotional spectrum of his works speaks to the complex socio-political fallout of long-awaited independence, the welcoming of freedom, and the anxiety of change.

Osiemi’s interest in social experiences and emotional reflexes is reflected in his involvement in Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Program. As one of America’s largest public art schemes, this program seeks to return agency and identity to the city’s diverse communities, under the premise that art can engage a population and ignite social, political and environmental change. Osiemi’s largest-scale contribution Woman of Jazz, which he painted in 2006 in the Strawberry Mansion neighbourhood, pays homage to the African-American women who made major global contributions to jazz music, including Nina Simone, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. The rhythmic musicality of his brushwork is reflected in his broader oeuvre. Osiemi’s works have been displayed at the UBA Bank in New York, the Presidential State House at Abuja in Nigeria, Nigeria’s National Gallery of Modern Art and the Goethe Institute, Germany.