2020 Tilga Art Prize Awardees — Nigeria Edition
Igwe Michael
Finalist
Igwe Michael is a visual artist who received a BA degree from the university of Benin (2018) with a major in painting.
Igwe creates expressive paintings of people, places and experiences using oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, charcoal, prints and text, in an experimental and a conceptually driven process.
His projects explore themes of time, Identity, psychology, displacement and even current affairs, with an affinity for how culture influences behavior patterns which he believes informs how differently the notion of love, power, religion etc, is perceived.gdgdf
Chigozie Obi
Finalist
Chigozie Obi is a multi-dimensional visual artist who obtained a bachelor's degree of Visual Arts from the Creative Arts department, University of Lagos in 2017.
Obi's work is consistent in the use of vibrant colors and figures to portray emotions and stories formed from personal experiences and focuses on the representation of Black/African people in their diversity.
Exhibitions
2024 – In Stillness of Being (solo), Yenwa Gallery, Lagos.
2024 – Anchors (group), Fresco Gallery, Lagos.
2025 – 1‑54 Marrakech presentation.
Taiwo Adebayo
Finalist
Taiwo Adebayo, born is a contemporary visual artist who received a B.A in Fine and Applied Arts (Painting) from the Department of Fine and Applied Arts, Obafemi Awolowo University.
His works explore subjects connected to his personal experience to speak on the psychology of a person's life cycle. His works are enhanced by documented pictures taken by his parents and past memories. He wants all to resonate with his works as he brings forth the physical, emotional and psychological struggles once can face growing up.
Mobolaji Ogunrosoye
Finalist
Mobolaji Ogunrosoye is a Mixed-Media Artist born in Lagos, Nigeria. Her practice is centred around a personal exploration of identity.
Through the use of collage and photography, she examines physicality and emotion by observing daily life and general landscapes and documenting these observations over time.
These documentations allow her to reimagine worlds that are free of gender norms and expectations.
Exhibitions
2023 – OPTICS (group), kó Gallery, Lagos.
2024 – Anchors (group), Fresco Gallery, Lagos.
2024 – In the Midst of Chaos (group), O’DA Art Lagos.
2025 – Black Figuration Is Alive and Well (group), O’DA Art Lagos.
Residencies
2024 – G.A.S. Lagos Research Fellowship.
2025 – RESONANCE Paris Residency (ART X Lagos × Embassy of France × Cité Internationale
des Arts).
Christopher Samuel Idowu
Finalist
Christopher Samuel Idowu is a Nigerian visual artist from Badagry, Lagos.
He studied at Yaba college of Technology where he majored in Painting.
Christopher explores and documents studies of the human form taken from his immediate environment. He works in different media including Conte, charcoal, watercolours, acrylics and oil paint. convey a visual commentary on societal contradiction through distinctly selected subjects. His ideology and philosophy views art as integral to human existence.
Exhibitions
2025 – The Secret Place (solo), kó Art Space, Lagos.
Residencies
2025 – dot ateliers Residency, Ghana.