60 inches x 40 inches
Oil paint on canvas
Fidelis Joseph is a visual artist from Adamawa state in the northeastern part of Nigeria. He began his formal education in Art in 2009, at the Federal College of Education, Yola. He started his artistic career in Lagos after graduating with a B.A in Fine Arts from the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna state, Nigeria. At the end of his undergraduate studies, Fidelis became the most influential, and won the Artist of the Year Award in the department of Fine Arts ABU, Zaria, in 2017.
Growing up in the northern part of Nigeria has a heavy influence on Fidelis’s artistic practice. He lived with his grandmother throughout most of his teenage years and that experience has molded some of the themes and areas of interest in his works, such as mythology, the cultural reference to Salkur, and the history of migration of his native community.
Fidelis has worked ardently to sustain his practice since he finished his undergraduate studies and he’s becoming widely known locally and internationally within the art world. He was recently mentioned on the Financial Times as artist setting a standard in the Nigeria Art scene.
After practicing as a full-time artist for four years in Lagos, he moved to the United States to further his practice. Fidelis is the recipient of the Cranbrook Art Museum Purchase Prize Award 2023.