Twins Seven-Seven (Nigerian, 1944-2011) The Magician and a Musician (1979)
Herkunft : Prince Twins Seven-Seven was born in Ijara, northern Nigeria, to the royal family of Osuntoki in 1944. He changed his birthname, Olaniyi Osuntoki, to signify his status as the sole survivor of his parents' seven sets of twins. He believed he was an 'abiku', a 'child born to die'. In Yoruba culture, abiku are thought to possess special gifts as a result of their connection to the spirit world. Prince's work frequently draws on mythological tales he heard as a child. His desire to revitalize Yoruba culture has led art historian, Henry Glassie, to refer to him as 'the great modernist of the Yoruba tradition.' Speaking of mythology in his own work, Prince Twins Seven-Seven said: 'When I started painting, I tried to bring out everything that is in my mind, and focus on the mythological thinking of my people...I used to hear voices. I would sing songs, but I don't know where they come from.' Animals in Yoruba culture often possess a symbolic meaning; spirits are traditionally characterized by a combination of bestial and humanoid features. The aesthetic is one of 'distortion, dislocation and multiplicity'. Prince Twins Seven-Seven shot to international fame in 2005 when the President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, appointed him one of UNESCO's Artists for Peace. Bibliography H. Glassie, Prince Twins Seven-Seven: His Art, His Life in Nigeria, His Exile in America, (Indiana, 2010), pp.68-286.
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