Adebanji Alade (born 1972), also known as "the Addictive Sketcher", is a

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

presenter, active in the United Kingdom, who serves as president of the

Royal Institute of Oil Painters The Royal Institute of Oil Painters, also known as ROI, is an association of painters in London, England, and is the only major art society which features work done only in oil. It is a member society of the Federation of British Artists. Histor ...

. He is a member of the Guild of Fine Art in Nigeria and of the council of the Chelsea Art Society.

Early life

Alade was born in Hackney,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 28 February 1972. Between 1992 and 1997 he obatined a Higher National Diploma in Fine Art from

Yaba College of Technology Yaba College of Technology, popularly known as YABATECH, was founded in 1947, and is Nigeria's first higher educational institution. It is located in Yaba, Lagos. , it had a student enrollment of over 16,000. It also has a secondary school and ...

in Nigeria. Between the ages of 16 and 18, he lost his father, mother and elder brother. His uncle became his mentor and sponsor. He studied at

Heatherley School of Fine Art The Heatherley School of Fine Art is an independent art school in London. The school was named after Thomas Heatherley who took over as the school's principal from James Mathews Leigh (when it was named "Leigh's"). Founded in 1845, the school ...

from 2003 to 2005, graduating with a Diploma in Portraiture. He has also taught there.

Career

In 2014 Alade was elected a full member of the Guild of Fine Art, Nigeria. In the same year he became a member of the council of the Chelsea Art Society. He was elected president of the

in 2023 and is its first ever black president. He is the subject of a 2012 episode of the documentary series ''Life Of An Artist'', and has appeared as artist in residence on BBC Television's ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weekdays at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Roman Kemp, Ronan Keating ...

''. He recreated the ''

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, ...

'' for a 2021

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

documentary which he presented. The project was also the subject of a BBC podcast. Alade was the featured painter in episode five of the third series of '' Extraordinary Portraits'', when he painted a group portrait of six members of the Edwards family, who all work for the

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

. He illustrated the children's book, ''Balthazar and His Bendy Bus'' (2013), by John Lane. His self-portrait, ''Skin'' (2015), is held by the Ruth Borchard Collection. He has a studio on Lots Road, Chelsea, London.

Personal life

Alade and his wife Ruth live in

Belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa * Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco * Belvedere, Harare, Zi ...

, London, with their two children.

Publications

Alade has authored several books * * *

References

External links

*
Works by Alade
at DailyPaintWorks * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alade, Adebanji Living people 1972 births People from Hackney, London British people of Nigerian descent Alumni of the Heatherley School of Fine Art Yaba College of Technology alumni 21st-century British painters Members of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters People from Belvedere, London