Uthman Wahaab

Presentation

Uthman Wahaab (Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria, 1983) is a multidisciplinary artist who lives and works between Lagos and London. He received a degree in Fine Art from the School of Art, Design and Printing, Yaba College of Technology, Lagos. Wahaab is a known for his intricate, expansive and imaginative figure drawings. He draws on paper as well as on canvas. Drawing is a driving force behind Wahaab’s practice, although he also works in painting, graphics design, film, photography and installation. His work ranges from whimsical and playful observations, to re-imagined histories of the African continent, and critical commentary on the current social dilemmas in West Africa. Wahaab is keenly critical of the impact of technology on shifting cultural structures in his country, and the complexities of navigating traditional values and economic progress. Often Wahaab’s uses a critical lens to comment on social phenomenon not only within Africa; but also, globally, using bodies as a poetic metaphor. Each of his series, Victorian Lagos, Phenomenal Women, Hybrid Theory is a personal investigation and a sociological study, always anchored in the representation of the figure, and thus also in the history of figuration. Wahaab’s work has been shown internationally, with significant exhibitions in Lagos, London and New York. He has participated in the Lagos Biennale with a large commissioned wall painting.