Joyful Painting

Enotie Ogbebor is a self taught multidisciplinary artist whose love for art, culture and history started from childhood where he molded with clay and sketched voraciously. He was born and is currently living in Benin City and Lagos, Nigeria. his interest in art was piqued by his childhood spent in igun street witnessing his uncle bronze casters at work, he was apprenticed whilst on holidays from school to the late master carver Imagbenekaro in Benin. He was exposed to the works of the Nigerian modernist at an early age and had private art tutors at home. “I seek to use my Art to encourage humanity to recognise the beauty around us and to seek for solutions which I highlight in our history,culture, environmental issues and its correlation to Human trafficking and social issues which affect our societies." to initiate conversations which result in the implementation of sustainable solutions. I have been influenced deeply by an intuitive style of Painting, sculpting with colours and mixed media.” His interest in art was also piqued by his travels to Egypt, Greece and Ethiopia and also his childhood visits to various Museums in Africa, Europe and the United States of America where he saw firsthand some of the wonders of the world. His practice includes Painting, Sculpture, music and Performance art. Enotie is considered an authority in Benin court art and history. He is a voice in the discourse and plays a very active role in the effort about the restitution of ancient Benin bronzes and artifacts which are in the possession of foreign museums. He was selected by the Great Benin centenary committee to show his works at the Oba of Benin Royal Art exhibitions in 1997which was organized to commemorate the Centennial of the British Invasion of Benin Kingdom. Enotie Ogbebor’s works can be found in numerous notable private and public institutions across the world. Enotie would be the subject of a Solo Exhibition at the British Museum in 2021/2022 at the end of his current residency program there. In 2017 Enotie set up Nosona Studios, his private studio for training fine artists and in 2018 Nosona Studios was selected as a vendor organization to the Smithsonian institute in Washington DC U.S.A. In the area of training to preserve old technics. He also set up Edo Global Art Foundation, a platform for the development of multidisciplinary artists. He is a steering committee member of the Benin Dialogue Group.