Ade Adekola’s work spans a variety of media: photography, installations, and interactive art. He is a Nigerian-born Architect turned contemporary artist. Self-taught, he has been making images since his early teens. Ade’s eye is influenced by a blend of visual languages that cut across multiple cultures. As an experimental photographer, he uses technology in the post-production process to create alternate techniques of representation. He works from his private image archive, and occasionally from public archives. His works are made in discrete series – each exploring different ideas. The result is a body with distinct visual languages which question and redefines a path for the future of African photography.
In his recent works, he redirects his practice to reimagining contemporary representations from reinterpreted traditional and urban Nigerian culture. For example, he creates new expressions of traditional textiles; glittering gemstone photo mosaics from ethnographic images; large scale photomontages of urban dwellers; iconic blur images of festivals and optical kinetic pieces from urban photograms.
His work is colourful and often uses overlapping images. His innovative compositions add new perspectives to African photography.
He currently lives in Lagos.
Anthology NFT series
The Anthology NFT series uses narratives or stories to bring communities together. We reference Real Life (IRL), community-based activities and stage them as visual stories using elements from the Crypto Art/NFT subculture. The series is not a generative project nor is the production automated. Instead, the NFTs are modular, created from artworks nested within artworks, exploring narratives nested within other narratives. Ultimately, they are native Web 3 art or Meta-Artworks.
