Blood Bonds of Love: De Celeb

Efe Okorodudu, United Kingdom

I am a self-taught artist and I was born in Nigeria, delta state and grew up in the city of Benin city and being surrounded by traditional artists (sculpting, carving, drawing, painting and architecture design, my love for multimedia art, rural and urban art started from a young age. In my late teens I began drawing and painting watercolour, and with its unforgiving nature allowed me to forge a love, respect and passion for contemporary art. In 2005, I gained admission into the University of Delta state to study education and policy of art. This was a crucial stepping stone for me and confirmed my desire to be an art teacher and to share my passion for painting and drawing with the wider audience. With the university strike, I couldn’t finish studying to be an art educator and in 2011 I relocated to England where I still live and work today. In 2008 I held my first solo exhibition in Benin City, by kind invitation of the Oba of Benin. It was indeed an honour to have the work recognised at that level, and so has cemented my desire to hold more international exhibition shows in the uk and other countries also. I continue to create new work, style and collections of various subjects of art from my studio, with a view of exhibiting and sharing the work that I produce. Through my paintings, drawings and sculpture, I hope to evoke real emotion, but most of all to let the viewer enjoy the art as much as I enjoy making it.