Abstract

This essay, among other things, addresses the question of origin of Nigerian Urban art, a genre basically found in urban spaces. It highlights the various nomenclatures by which the genre has been tagged to date and provides a robust debate on the pioneer and later urban artists in the country noting the characteristics and nuances of their art. Besides establishing the character of Nigerian urban art as compelling and significant to understanding the aesthetic sensibilities and nuances of the producer culture, issues of identity, training, authorship, patronage, social memory and social responsibility, morality and immorality and how they inform, shape and complicate the creative endeavors of urban artists are brought to the fore. In this insightful interrogation of history, people and spaces one finds the emergence of a new artistic order in which Nigerian urban artists establish and expand their own idioms, unite politics with art, engage their own audiences, cultivate their own clientele, tell their own stories and that of the society, create and endorse new identities, and increasingly expand their socioeconomic space. Their creative formats essentially transform into markets where people, products and services unite. They also serve as cultural lenses through which one gain insights into class struggle in a postcolonial society and how a critical mass of the Nigerian public interprets leadership, commerce, and culture.

DOI: 10.1111/j.1478-0542.2008.00550.x