OSINACHI
Osinachi (born Prince Jacon Osinachi Igwe, 24 October 1991) is a self-taught digital artist whose work explores personal experiences within a technological environment.
Osinachi, who grew up in Aba, Nigeria, produces drawings using Microsoft Word, where he utilizes the basic limited design palette of the word processing software to create narrative illustrations.
Africa’s foremost cryptoartist, Osinachi‘s works are further registered in the blockchain and sold as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
In 2018, he became the first-ever Nigerian artist to showcase artworks at the Ethereal Summit, a conference in New York that seeks to bridge the gap between technology and art through blockchain.
Solo Show, March 2020
OSINACHI - EXISTENCE AS PROTEST - SOLO SHOW BY OSINACHI, AFRICA’S FOREMOST CRYPTOARTIST
Foreword by Artnome founder Jason Bailey
Artists already face established and well-documented gender and racial biases in the art market. As a writer, curator, and lecturer, I sometimes wonder (and worry) if by celebrating art made with the latest technology, I am inadvertently reinforcing a new bias, one which excludes artists without access to the latest technology.
How can an artist from a country like Nigeria where 87 million people (half their population) live on $1.90 a day in extreme poverty be expected to compete in the world of digital art? Just 4.2% of Nigerians even have access to a PC, and less than half have access to the internet. I write this as someone who has had every advantage. I grew up in a family of engineers, just a stone’s throw from MIT and Harvard. While I’m very excited about the future of digital art and the way that artists are embracing new tools like artificial intelligence and machine learning, I also know these tools are computationally expensive and not everyone has access to them.
Frankly, I’m depressed by the idea that my support for art made with tech may be giving momentum to a movement that excludes large populations of creative artists from participating. Then I discover an incredible artist like Osinachi and I remember that great art comes from the artist, not from the tools they use.
Osinachi was born and raised in Nigeria where the odds were greatly stacked against him becoming a digital artist. Osinachi had:
Limited access to a computer
No access to computer graphics software
A government with a poor record on freedom of speech
Despite these limitations and, in part, due to these limitations, Osinachi pushed through and found a way to make art on computers and to spread his message around the world.
Osinachi’s work would be remarkable and worthy of great attention if it were made in Zurich or where I live in Boston, but the fact that it emerged against the odds he faced in Nigeria makes it that much more impressive.
Osinachi took Microsoft Word, a word processing tool with 1.2 billion users globally, and found a new way to use it as a tool for making digital art that none of us have seen before. Through sheer effort, imagination, and creativity, Osinachi brings virtuosity to what most people overlooked or cast aside as a crude tool for making basic shapes and patterns. Osinachi’s textures and color palettes sing out and demand attention. Inspired by the textiles found in Nigeria, they feel more like a rich collage of vibrant fabrics than a screen full of cold lifeless pixels. The fearless creative energy and positivity of Osinachi’s aesthetic extend seamlessly into the subject matter of his work.
Osinachi is a brilliant protest artist. Rather than depict dramatic scenes of struggle and conflict as is often typical with protest art, his weapon of choice is to highlight normalcy and positivity.
His government has some of the most vicious anti-LGTBQ laws in the world, yet he chooses to celebrate this community in the face of these laws by showing its members happily living their lives as everyday human beings. By avoiding negativity and drama and simply presenting positive images of people just trying to live their lives, Osinachi completely defangs anti-LGBTQ propaganda. Rather than pour gas on a fire, he extinguishes it all together.
Like all great artists, Osinachi is a mirror of his times, and the topics he addresses -- from environmentalism to racism and single parenthood -- resonate far outside the borders of Nigeria. He is a reminder of what art and artists can be for us all when they are performing at their best and fulfilling their most important function within our increasingly global culture.
Osinachi, ATF #681
Osinachi, ATF #687
Osinachi, Children of the Yard
Osinachi, The Visit #3/6
Osinachi, Pool Day I
Osinachi, Like Waiting for Godot
Adam and Steve, 2024
Fine Art Print
Size: 50 x 70.7 cm
Edition of 5
Next available edition 4/5
PRINT: (Ed. plus 10%)
Unique NFT: SOLD
Description:
Conservative Christianity’s distortion of the Adam and Eve narrative has fueled a homophobic agenda, particularly evident in their support of anti-gay legislation across the globe. The reclamation of the phrase "Adam and Steve" by the LGBTQ+ community is a powerful act of resistance against this oppressive force. Osinachi’s "Adam & Steve" is a bold digital artwork that intersects this sociopolitical struggle with the urgent crisis of biodiversity loss. Through a visually striking and technologically innovative medium, the piece challenges traditional narratives and invites viewers to consider the interconnectedness of human rights and environmental protection.
By juxtaposing iconic representations of human love with the stark realities of endangered African species—the black rhinoceros, African forest elephant, Roloway monkey, Albany adder, aspalathus recurvispina, anthocleista vogelii, tetradiclis tenella, acampe pachyglossa, and Xylopia amplexicaulis—the artist creates a visual tapestry that both provokes and inspires. The digital format allows for a complex interplay of imagery and symbolism, making "Adam & Steve" a contemporary and relevant commentary on our times.
Exhibited at Untitled Miami Art Fair, Miami, Kate Vass Galerie Booth A43, December 2024