The wonder of how I met Luqman Olabode Onipede amazes me till today. I spotted his painting and it spoke to me…lol I needed to have it. I did all I could to secure it. The piece touched me with its geometric print. Ironically, the character in the painting may seem a little tired or disillusioned, but he brightens up my space. It is also amazing that Luqman still has the gusto and enthusiasm of a young artist fresh out of art school, even though he graduated from Yaba College of Technology with a degree in fine arts at least 7 years ago. I catch up with Luqman for a chat.
I ask him to describe himself, and he says, ‘I am a Lagos based painter who hails from Ogun state, Nigeria.’
I ask Luqman Olabode about his biggest artistic influences, Nigerian and foreign, and he answers,
‘My works are majorly from influences and artists such as Pablo Picasso, Henry Matisse, Raphello Santi, Saheed Adelakun, Ödun Orimolade etc.’
On his favourite artistic medium, Onipede explains, ‘My works center around emotional memories using different artistic medium such as mixed media, oil colours, acrylics, charcoal or graphite.
I ask Luqman Onipede to describe his art skill development and elucidates, ‘My art skill was initially developed informally from three masters namely Ghariokwu Abel, Saheed Adelakun and Adiro Abdulhakeem before I went to learn from the prestigious Yaba College of Technology where I graduated from.’
On where he finds inspiration, Luqman gives insight, ‘Being inspired from several occurrences such as happenings around him, movies he watches and his personal life-experiences.’
On his favorite time to paint, Onipede shares, ‘It is in the evening as I believe the spirit descends and that time, hence gives me sufficient energy.’
On the importance of art to society, Luqman muses, ‘Art educates, entertains and also documents history.’
On what motivates him to create, Olabode shares, ‘The need for fulfilment as well as the need not to be bothered over immediate monetary concerns.’
Olabode waxes nostalgic over how much he loves art, ‘Art has been a guidance to other areas of human life (teaches one how to live) which I am not an exception. The rate of my love for it could be compared to how one loves his life.’
Luqman defines success as an artist as follows, ‘Success as an artist from my own view is when the creation gets to its end user and in return enough gratification comes in.’
Thinking of walking in Luqman’s footsteps, get a head start with this set of paint brushes!
I ask Luqman Olabode about how he finds the Nigerian art industry and how different is it from what he was taught in art school and he minces no words, ‘The Nigerian art industry has not really been up to task as we were taught in school. Licensing should be application to an art practitioners the way the word “ethics” applies in professions such as medicine etc.’
Luqman Olabode Onipede shares the following tips,
‘Any up and coming artist should try as much as possible to have:
-Passive income as a source of income so as to have a good stance against odds such as pricing, marketing and selling.
-Make sure your works are original, not photocopy (plagiarism)
-let your work be what you belief lies on.’