Demas Nwoko (Nigerian, Born 1935) Baba Kokoro
Provenance : [Propriété non datée]
- Acquired directly from the artist; A private collection
- Demas Nwoko, a leading figure in Nigerian modernism, is best known as a founding member of the Zaria Art Society, a student group at the Nigerian College of Art, Science and Technology, Zaria that became key players in the development of postcolonial modernism in Nigeria in the early 1960s
- The groups significance lies in its insistence on developing a new art based on Nigerian and African traditional aesthetics, forms and processes, but with a modernist sensibility similar to that of the European avant-garde
- This idea, theorized by his friend, Professor Uche-Okeke, as Natural Synthesis defined Nwoko's work as a painter, sculptor, teacher, theatre director, designer and architect
- In this 1965 painting, Nwoko presents an image of reminiscent of the well-known musician and entertainer of the day, Baba Kokoro
- Kokoro (Omoba Benjamin Aderounmu, 1925-2009), was a widely known blind entertainer from Lagos, Nigeria
- He was born into a royal family in Owo, Ondo State, and became blind when he was aged ten
- He developed a unique style of singing accompanied first by a drum, later by a tambourine
- He moved to Lagos in 1947, where he became exposed to major local musicians such as Ayinde Bakare, Bobby Benson and Victor Olaiya
- In the 1960s and 1970s he featured regularly on Federal and local radio stations and was widely respected for the depth and wisdom of his lyrics
- An early pioneer of Jùjú music, he sang in Yoruba about love, money, conflicts and urban decadence
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