From Eden to Eternity: An Unintended Conversation On Blackness and Identity

Three Nigerian artists working in isolation are part of a larger dialog unfolding about the role of geography, personal histories and culture in what we create.

A split image shows Nigerian artist Anthony Azekwoh standing in front of his artwork featuring two Black figures against a green background, alongside another of his paintings, which portrays a Black Jesus figure with a white crown of thorns against a red backdrop.
Anthony Azekwoh with Adam and Eve and his work Jesu Christi. Courtesy Anthony Azekwoh

In Lagos, Nigeria, multimedia artist Anthony Azekwoh creates art that is easily recognizable—mostly depictions of mythical or legendary figures from various religions and eras, but with a twist. Anansi, Jesu Christi, Oba, Oshun and Oya, the three wives of Sango, Ayra Starr and Methuselah are just some of the figures he has recreated, and these icons, in their recreation, have a few things in common. They are visibly Black or have Black features and, when not created with white marble, have a vibrant Blackness complemented with contrasting bright reds, yellows and gold.

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In the same city, self-taught digital artist Osinachi (who has exhibited at 1-54, ArtX Lagos, Art Basel and Art Basel Miami Beach) makes distinctive works that lean into contemporary ideas and showcase and reflect what it means to be young and Black in today’s world. Most of his subjects live in modern times, wear braids, dreadlocks and piercings. They are perceptively queer-presenting sometimes and always Black.

A diptych of digital artworks features one image of a figure dressed in traditional Igbo attire surrounded by cartoon characters with angel wings in a cloud-filled sky, while the other presents two Black male figures made of stone in a lush, jungle-like setting with various animals, including a monkey and a rhinoceros.
Osinachi, The Assumption (l.) and Adam and Steve (r.). Courtesy of the artist and Kate Vass Galerie

Meanwhile, the Afrofuturist Imran Tilde, making art from the northern Nigerian state of Kaduna, is building a post-apocalyptic world where the earth has succumbed to the stretches of global warming and humans have sought refuge on a new planet where humans and robots cohabit. Among the unfamiliar is the familiar: the Dagin Arewa or ‘Northern knot’ and other signifiers of northern identity like the Arewa manner of dressing (which is heavily influenced by religion) and societal norms.

Though these artists have never collaborated, their histories, identities and views coalesce in their shared Nigerian experience (diverse as it may be), which becomes the mortar that solidifies a cohesive structure. The works these artists produce, rich and authentic in the replication of their individual idiosyncrasies, are part of an unspoken dialog in a larger conversation about the role of geography and culture in what we create.

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“My experiences shape my artworks,” Azekwoh told Observer. “A good example is the piece Jesu Christi, which comes from my childhood. I was raised Catholic, and I remember thinking of how to recreate my understanding of Jesus Christ and then making that.” Indeed, most of Azekwoh’s creations come from his interpretation of these religious figures and iconography.

For Osinachi, the Blackness of his characters “comes from an interrogation.” Even when he expresses ideas that are otherwise alien to him—in a manner of speaking—like the assumption of the blessed Virgin Mary, Osinachi inserts his identity as part of that interrogation. In The Assumption, Osinachi recreates the Italian painter Guercino’s Baroque work, replacing the Blessed Virgin Mary with Ada Mmụọ and the cherubs with characters from children’s TV shows. As the only female masked spirit in Igbo pantheon, Ada Mmụọ’s presence reinforces Osinachi’s claim that his work stems from interrogation. What may seem like a simple swap instead draws parallels between two revered figures—both once living women, now spiritual intercessors—making the piece a product of deep introspection.

A surreal painting depicts a figure in traditional northern Nigerian attire standing inside a circle of fire, surrounded by a robotic astronaut, a horse, and a crater, with a large celestial body in the background.
Imran Tilde, Solitude; Acrylic on canvas, 56 x 42 inches. “Solitude is an essential ritual to my creative process and personal well-being. It provides a quiet space free from distractions, allowing me to focus deeply on meditation and artistic expression.” Courtesy Imran Tilde

Just like Azekwoh and Osinachi, Tilde’s artworks embody aspects of his culture in a way that cuts across history, religion and contemporary society, even while he’s telling stories of an unrealized hereafter. “I am very passionate about our planet, global warming and our collective future, and of course about my culture, too, so I try to make sure that reflects in my artworks,” Tilde said. His subjects’ attire, the architecture that surrounds them, the Arewa star and other symbols anchor his work in a place and time even as he manifests one possible future.

An unintended conversation unfolds between Anthony Azekwoh, Osinachi and Imran Tilde as their artworks collectively declare, “We were here in every lore, every creation story, every history. We are here now in every form, shape and orientation. We will be here even when nothing remains.” In Azekwoh’s Eden and Osinachi’s Adam and Steve, for example, these artists challenge the history they were indoctrinated to accept, proving it can be both Black and queer. Their work constitutes a revolutionary act. This radical reinterpretation of religious myths, viewed through a Black and queer lens, transforms what they create into a rejoinder, a reclamation and a journey from Eden to Sodom to eternity.

In Nigeria, a new Blackness both unfolds in parallel and flows concurrently: Azekwoh weaves a story of the history of the world as told from a Black point of view, uninterrupted by colonialism or whiteness, and Osinachi picks up the thread to illustrate how wonderfully this Blackness—unfractured and unbleached by colonial intrusion—turned out. Carrying these concepts to a time yet to come is Tilde, who explores these realities in a distant future where his Arewa identity endures.

From Eden to Eternity: An Unintended Conversation On Blackness and Identity