Asiru Olatunde (1918–1993) was a Nigerian artist, blacksmith, and painter, often regarded as one of the prominent painters from Osogbo. [1] He was one of a small group of artists who were part of a creative community known as the Oshogbo School of art. [2] His illustrations were centered around Yoruba mythology as well as Biblical stories, combined with local folklore
Asiru Olatunde | |
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Born | Osogbo, Nigeria |
Died | 1993 |
Asiru Olatunde was born into a family of blacksmiths but Illness [3] forced him to give up as a blacksmith in the 1960s, He temporarily made jewelry to sell in the market, before transitioning into painting on the advice of Uilli Beier and Suzanne Wenger in 1961. He adopted a technique known as repousse metalwork, which usually involve the shaping of copper, aluminum and iron to derive his artwork, [4] he created animal figurines out of recycled copper and aluminum.
His exhibition has been showcased at IMF headquarters, as well as Smithsonian Institution. [5]
He died in 1993.