Over two decades ago, Simon Ottenberg made a passionate appeal in his book, New Traditions from Nigeria: Seven Artists of the Nsukka Group, stating that: “There is a need for detailed analyses of individual artists and their art and of African artistic schools and groups, which are often regionally and culturally sited. Scholarly work on the history of contemporary African art is urgent while some of its pioneers are still alive” (1997:13).
Many scholars have responded to this appeal, with notable examples including Chika Okeke-Agulu's book Obiora Udechukwu: Line, Image, Text, Sylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie's monograph Ben Enwonwu: The Making of an African Modernist (2008), Salah M. Hassan's book Ibrahim el Salahi: A Visionary Modernist (2012), and Susan Vogel's book El Anatsui: Art and Life (2012). These are very apt responses to the urgent need to examine and situate the lives and...