What’s Going On | DESMOND AKINDOJU

Desmond Akindoju (b. 2001) hails from Ondo state Nigeria. He is currently a student at the Department of Fine and Applied Arts Education at the Adeyemi Federal University of Education, Ondo state. As an early career artist, his work projects the persistence of childhood memories in one’s existence. This act of remembrance selects and combines fragments from the artist's lived experiences and the missed opportunities from the early phase of his life. His current oeuvre is the painting of beautiful portraits of young people. These portraits are from experiential realities and imagined fantasies.

Desmond started drawing early during his boyhood while living in the rich flora belt of Ondo countryside, South-West Nigeria. This serene and peaceful period shaped his life, and he has continued to show it in his work. The surrounding rich vegetation and the beauty of tropical flowers in his environment provide a great source of inspiration for his art. He had received nourishment from these leaves as food and medicine. The leaves and flowers add beauty, joy, wellness and a sense of nostalgia to his work, and he works hard to express these essences.

His painting medium is Acrylic on canvas. The figurative paintings of dreamy young people are the centerpiece of his compositions. His work captures the fantasies of childhood. The blue-eyed beautiful figures are also painted with stylish hairstyles and in confident poses. Desmond also uses lines in the backgrounds of the paintings, which indicate a connection between the past and the present. The dresses worn by the figures in this body of work are painted in floral designs. There is also a leaf pattern effect painting on his subject's body. For Desmond, it is a means of reminiscing on the bountiful beauty of nature to our existence.