Oniudele Gold

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Oniudele Gold graduated from the Yaba College of Technology, Lagos with a specialization in painting. He grew up with an artist uncle who gave him his early guidance in art before deciding to pursue it as a career. He did a live speed painting of the French President, Emmanuel Macron at the New African Shine during his visit to Nigeria in 2018. 

Oniudele has also painted notable personalities like Governor Ambode, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Ooni of Ife, and the current President of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari. - Artist Statement Knotted headgear is usually the head of my figures. This is about my everyday encounter with my mother and other women while growing up. 

My mother is a trader and the best way she keeps her valuables is by knotting them at the edge of her wrapper. This was not peculiar to her alone but to every other woman of her generation. They also used the knotted wrapper for arranging and packaging clothes and other items when they had no bag for traveling. 

They would spread the wrapper on the floor, put their luggage in the middle, and knot the wrapper by tying the four edges together. I employ this knotted wrapper as the head of my figures to delineate the head as the seat of valuable things; wisdom, knowledge, information, thoughts, and aspirations. 

My choice of female subjects is aimed at traveling through memory and nostalgia as well as keeping the relationship between the women and the knotted wrapper. The body of works in this portfolio explores the relationship between humans and animals and the satisfaction and affection that humans derive from such. 

Lagos is a busy city where people spend hours on the road on their way to various places. They get home tired, famished, and thirsty for rest. Household pets thus become companions and friends that offer comfort and peace. The portraits without pets are documentation of friends around me who offer peace and comfort in times of stress and trouble.