An original work by Rufus Ogundele
 
11” x 14”
 
Limited Edition Archival Print
 
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Between the years 1963 and 1995, Rufus Ogundele created a spectacular body of work which testifies to his genius. Born in Oshogbo in southwestern Nigeria in 1946, his first foray into the arts was as a musician and actor in Duro Ladipo's traveling theatre company alongside Twins77 and Muraina Oyelami. Before his untimely death at age fifty, his works celebrating the boundless beauty and colorful imagery of Yoruba life and culture had been exhibited the world over.
At the turn of the millennium, Rufus Ogundele's works has taken pride of place at Nigeria's premier art auction organized by Nimbus Art Gallery. Hosted in Lagos at the prestigious Muson Centre, the auction featured Ogundele's paintings alongside the works of contemporaries such as: Ben Enwonwu, Erhabor Eamokpae, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Ben Osawe, Solomon Wangboje and other notable names from the continent.
In the twenty years since that ground breaking event which set the stage for the current boom in the auctioneering of African cultural artifacts, Ogundele's original pieces have proved near impossible to come by. Either lost in translation or buried under an avalanche of corruption and imitations, they like the Nimbus, have passed from the land of myth in to the realm of urban legend.
As we at Pure Lagos Gallery celebrate the rebirth of the Nimbus, it is with great pride that we present: "The New World According to Rufus Ogundele,” a limited sale of prints to showcase a phenomenal artist whose rise to prominence has been twenty five years in the making. The originals have travelled over five thousand miles to help usher in another African renaissance and the glorious new age of Aquarius. Now you can acquire a limited number of originals and archival prints.
 
Rufus Ogundele's work is featured in the Crossover Series produced by Kwame Alexander and Lebron James starring the inimitable Phylicia Rashad on Disney+.
 
Sankofa ~
Joseph Cinque Nwagbogu