Adam and Eve,

1965

Okeke was a founding member of the Zaria Art Society, established in 1958 by a group of students at the University of Nigeria at Nsukka. Inspired by the Nigerian independence movement, these students sought to create a distinctive national artistic style through “natural synthesis,” fusing indigenous art forms with the academicism officially taught at universities during colonial rule. Okeke drew inspiration from uli, intertwining, curvilinear designs derived from nature used by Igbo women for body ornamentation and wall painting. Through the story of Adam and Eve, Okeke depicts a Judeo-Christian origin myth in a style that draws on the Igbo community’s traditions. Okeke became an influential professor and founder of the multigenerational group of artists known as the Nsukka School. Ten years after painting this work, he invited the Ghanian artist El Anatsui, whose work is on view on the opening wall, to teach at Nsukka.