Chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boat ...

Jimoh Buraimoh (born 1943, as Jimoh Adetunji Buraimoh) is a Nigerian

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

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

. Chief Buraimoh is one of the most influential artists to emerge from the 1960s workshops conducted by

Ulli Beier Chief Horst Ulrich Beier, commonly known as Ulli Beier (30 July 1922 – 3 April 2011), was a German editor, writer and scholar who had a pioneering role in developing the Western world's understanding of literature, drama and poetry in Niger ...

and Georgina Beier in

Osogbo Osogbo (also known as ''Oṣogbo'', and seldomly as ''Oshogbo'') is a city in Nigeria. It became the capital city of Osun State in 1991. Osogbo city seats the Headquarters of both Osogbo Local Government Area (situated at Oke-Baale Area of th ...

Osun State Osun (; ), is a state in southwestern Nigeria; bounded to the east by Ekiti and Ondo states for 84 km and for 78 km respectively, to the north by Kwara State for 73 km, to the south by Ogun State for 84 km and to the wes ...

, Nigeria. Since then, he has become one of the best known artists from

Early life and education

Jimoh Buraimoh was born in

, Osun State, Nigeria, in 1943 into a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

branch of the royal family of the town. He attended the 1960s' workshops conducted by

, and was also a lighting technician in

Duro Ladipo Durodola Durosomo Duroorike Timothy Adisa Ladipo (18 December 1926 – 11 March 1978), more commonly known as Duro Ladipo, was one of the best known and critically acclaimed Yoruba people, Yoruba dramatists who emerged from postcolonial Africa. ...

's theatre..

Career

Jimoh Buraimoh's work merges western media and Yoruba style motifs. He is credited with being

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

's first head painter when in 1964, he made a contemporary art form inspired by the Yoruba tradition of incorporating beadwork designs into ceremonial fabrics and beaded crowns. In 1972, he represented

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

in the First All African Trade Fair in Nairobi,

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. One of his famous paintings was presented at the

World Festival of Black Arts The World Festival of Black Arts (French: ''Festival Mondial des Arts Nègres''), also known as FESMAN or FMAN, has been a series of month-long culture and arts festivals taking place in various parts of Africa. The festival features participant ...

Festac '77 Festac '77, also known as the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (the first festival took place in Dakar, 1966, the second in Algiers in July 1969) was a major international festival held in Lagos, Nigeria, from 15 Januar ...

. He was the first Nigerian to be awarded a membership in the Contemporary World Association of Mosaic Artists.

WORK

Jimoh Buraimoh's works have been exhibited both at home and abroad.

Teaching

Jimoh Buraimoh is also an efficient teaching artist. In 1974, he taught at the

Haystack Mountain School of Crafts Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, commonly called "Haystack," is a craft school located at 89 Haystack School Drive on the coast of Deer Isle, Maine. History Haystack was founded in 1950 by a group of craft artists in the Belfast, Maine are ...

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. He also taught at the University of Bloomington and other schools in New York, Boston and Los Angeles.

Award

He was given the U.S. Exchange Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award to recognise his significant contributions to the arts and long-existing cultural relationship between

and the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

Sources and references

Jimoh Buraimoh's website
* Jimoh Adetunji Buraimoh, "The Heritage: My Life and Arts", Lagos: Spectrum Books, Ltd, 2000.
African Contemporary , Art Gallery featuring Jimoh Buraimoh's work

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buraimoh, Jimoh 1943 births Living people People from Osogbo Osogbo School Yoruba artists 20th-century Nigerian painters