Hyperrealism is a type of painting that resembles a high-resolution picture. These drawings are presented as living and substantial, very narrative and emotive as well. Hyper-realistic artists create convincing illusions of reality and the beauty is in the heart connection between the artists and their work.
Remember the days when you had to be a Medical Doctor, Engineer, Lawyer and the likes before you could be respected in the Nigerian society? These talented artists are breaking the norm and carving a path for themselves in a once unpopular niche, teaching us to listen to our hearts and take the wheels of our destinies. If you fail at least you tried but it is almost impossible to fail when pursuing your passion.
These Nigerian hyper-realistic artists have taken the international art community by storm with their incredibly realistic 3D paintings and their work will leave you wowed!
Meet them…
1. Kareem Olamilekan
Anyone who said the beautiful ones are not yet born hasn’t met 11-year-old Kareen Waris Olamilekan from Lagos. His works are beautiful and so is he. Waspa, as he is also known, started drawing at age 6 with his major focus on portrait paintings. His drawings are so lifelike and he is indeed focused. He is a big dreamer who envisions his works in museums – this is not far fetched as he is already gaining international recognition.
Cartoons, comics, textbooks and his family background are major sources of inspiration for the young talented artist who attends a local art school, Ayowole Academy of Arts.
“My family, we work hard before we put food in our mouths; before we eat,” explains Waspa. “That’s what inspires me.”
2. Ken Nwadiogbu
Ken Nwadiogbu is a visual artist based in Lagos who specializes in 3D hyperrealistic drawings. We can’t help but love KenArts (as he is popularly called) for his natural gifts. This bag full of talent never attended art school and was without support from his parents but he rose above the tides, never relenting, instead steadily churning out captivating drawings that will steal your heart and have you dipping your hands in your wallets.
Having studied Civil Engineering, KenArts had to prove himself twice as hard because artists who did not study arts are often looked down on. These challenges are all in the past now as KenArts has risen from overlooked to overbooked and is currently busy with lots of local and international group exhibitions and fairs.
3. Arinze Stanley
Arinze Stanley is a Nigerian hyper-realistic artist, activist, engineer and entrepreneur. It’s obvious he has his hands full. In 2017, he won the ‘World’s Best Self Portrait’ category at the American Art Awards, coming out on top against USA’s Mano Sotelo, Sweden’s Susanne Persson, Taiwan’s Lynn Chen among others. Arinze’s art is a vehicle for his activism as he uses his work to address both social and political matters in the society.
He sends strong messages on racism and feminism using charcoal and graphite. He is beyond an artist, Arinze is a movement and we won’t be surprised if his work starts a revolution.
4. Ayo Filade
It is rare to find an artist like Filade. This hyper-realistic artist can be conveniently referred to as super driven. He’s been quoted to say “there are no valid excuses for not doing the work you are made to do” and has proven true to his words as he lets his work do the talking.
Filade’s drawings are made with just pencil but could be easily mistaken for a live image. This artist is on overdrive as his major challenge is thinking of how much he has to draw; so all you voracious art lovers and collectors, Filade finally matches your artpetite.
5. Oresegun Olumide
Oresegun Olumide is a graduate of Fine Arts from Yaba College Of Technology. This artist whose extraordinary work broke the internet in 2016 still hasn’t declined a bit. Oresegun’s oil on canvas drawings attracted not just Nigeria but the world at large leaving his creative dexterity indisputable.
As a reserved child, Oresegun instead of playing with friends would rather draw everything around him including his supposed playmates. This background heavily influences his art and we particularly love his focus on children. He likened his art to that of renown artists Michelangelo and Picasso and, we can see why.
Art begins where our words end and these artists have found a mode of expression that communicates genuine feelings and experiences beyond words. It is permissible to agree with Edward Hopper when he said, “If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint.”
Photo Credit | As Captioned
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