~ART CRUSH~ Aniekan Udofia

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Aneikan Udofia is a Nigerian American artist based in D.C. He was born in America but moved back to Nigeria with his parents when he was seven years old till he completed his education. Aniekan uses acrylics on canvas to create extrodinary pieces of Ubran Art. His work spoke to me the minute I saw it and I understood exactly what the term 'visual artist' actually meant. His paintings force you to take a second look and get into the mind of the artist to understand the social message he is trying to convey. His two main inspirations are Nigeria & Hip Hop. One of my favorite paintings is the one with the child next to a radio, dressed like an 'american gangster'. It made me think how of how far reaching music actually is.  In the most poverty stricken villages, somewhere a scratched Biggie tape is playing on repeat. Highlighting the fact that at the end of the day, no matter who we are were not that different and actually more similar than we tend to think. Udofia's talent has not gone unnoticed as he has been dubbed “the face of the D.C. art movement that mixes political themes with a hip-hop aesthetic.” His paintings speak for themselves, so I don't need to say much more aside from he is amazing and I am seriously contemplating marrying an artist.

As a result of artistic accomplishments, Udofia coins the philosophy, “You can succeed despite where people think you’re going. It’s not about being brilliant but it’s about the passion intensity and the drive behind whatever it is you’re doing.”