Emmanuel Ekong Ekefrey, b. 1952
Biography

Emmanuel Ekong Ekefrey was born in 1952 in Ndiya, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, into the Ibibio ethnic group, and is the son of a renowned traditional carver. Self-trained, he began his artistic practice in 1979, developing a body of work he calls “Uyai” — Ibibio for “beautiful” — art. He lives and works in Lagos.

Ekefrey is best known for a distinctive “all-over” technique in which paint is applied to unstretched canvas laid on the floor, producing dense, dynamic compositions of interpenetrating figures, shapes, lines and colour without a fixed horizon line. His work draws on Ibibio cultural myths and traditional life, celebrating African heritage while engaging contemporary subjects. His paintings have been used as cover art for books by Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah (2021) and for the volume A King’s Passion: A 21st-Century Patron of African Art (2024).

His work has been shown at venues including the Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden (MACAAL), Marrakech, and is held in significant private collections of contemporary African art, including the Jean Pigozzi Collection (CAAC).

source: CAAC – The Jean Pigozzi Collection of African Art; Erikan Art Gallery