Olayikanmi Olawale

Olayikanmi Olawale is a Nigerian contemporary artist. He studied painting in Yaba College of Technology Yaba, Lagos. His process can be classified as instinctive and organic, with the energetic and vibrant abstract paintings emerging from his non judgmental subconscious mind, brought together by feelings trying to find harmony in spontaneity. Olawale is a mixed media artist that typically employs acrylic paints, charcoal, oil bar, felt tip markers and pastels. His expressive style is characterized by dynamic lines, saturated colours, rapid and expressive brushstrokes heavily influenced by neoexpressionist artist such as Jean Michael Basquiat, George Baselitz and Richard Prince.

The primitive face style is integrated with over simplistic images and symbols that represent fragmented thoughts and memories and display how a world of associated information unfolds. In many ways it is a visual narrative and a creatively abstract form of visual mind mapping which comes together to produce a labyrinth of layered images. Each painting is designed to ignite the imagination of the viewer, evoke emotions and remind us of the incredible depth and complexity that lies with people and life itself.
“I am the happiest when I can submerge myself into the creative world. A meditative space where time stands still. A place where I find solace, reflect, explore and connect with my deeper self. My art is always an intuitive process that follows an impulse, embraces the accidental and often full of surprises. It is my way of exploring the unspoken complexities of humans, life and relationships with ourselves, others and the world around us.” – OLAYIKANMI OLAWALE

GROUP PROJECTS AND EXHIBITIONS
2022 DIALECT, Duo Exhibition – Mitochondria Gallery- Houston, Texas
2022 – “WHAT THEY DIDN’T TEACH US IN ART SCHOOL” Group Exhibition – TAAG Gallery
2022- Artsy Impact