Uche Okeke

Uche Okeke (born 1933) is a Nigerian painter and teacher of art. A founding member of the Nsukka group, he developed, together with Chike Aniakor and others, the art program of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Born in northern Nigeria, Okeke was the child of an Igbo family, and was educated in the region; this, combined with stories told by his mother and sister, inspired in him an interest in Igbo culture that was further whetted when he found that his mother had been an uli artist. He attended the Nigerian College of Arts, Science, and Technology (now Ahmadu Bello University) from 1958 until 1961, where he and other students rebelled against formal British constraints and against the earlier generation of Nigerian artists. To further his interest, he founded the Asele Institute, which is currently located at his residence in Nimo and which contains an art library and a collection of contemporary Nigerian art.

The subjects of Okeke's work are varied, ranging from portrait drawings to mythical images from Igbo mythology; he has also illustrated scenes from Nigerian history, including a painting of the 1929 Aba Riots, and from the work of Chinua Achebe, such as Things Fall Apart.

Work by Okeke is currently on display at the Sherman Gallery of Boston University, in an exhibit titled "Another Modernity: Works on Paper by Uche Okeke".

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Smithsonian institute Washington D.C. U.S.A. Academie der Kunste, Berlin, Germany. Institute of African Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria. Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich, Germany. Carl Diusberg Haus, Munich, Germany. National Council for Arts and Culture, Lagos, Nigeria.

MAJOR PUBLICATIONS

Drawings by Uche Okeke, Introduction by Ulli Beier, Ibadan: Mbari Publications, 1961. Tales of Land and Death - Igbo Folk Tales, new York, Doubleday, Zennith books, 1971 Igbo Art, Nimo, Asele Institute, 1976. Asele Institute 1959 - 1981, Nimo, Asele institute, 1981. Creative Conscience, Nimo Asele institute, 1993.