dele jegede @80: The creative pendulum of a genius still swinging

By Kunle Filani

I want to thank and appreciate the organizers of this strategic event that certainly will be of benefit to the development of art and scholarship in Nigeria. Professor ‘Dele Jegede is directly or indirectly a mentor to all Nigerian artists, not only because he was once the President of the Society of Nigerian Artists, but more so because of the hope and inspiration that he brought to bear on many through the rigours of academics and the relentless creative zests that manifest in his cartoons, drawings and paintings.

Gradually, I am becoming an authority on the ‘dele jegede phenomenal’, having written four essays on his artistic exploits and Chaired the Committee that celebrated him on the occasion of his 70th Birthday. He had also sent me on academic errands. For example, I went to Agbara-Otor a few years ago to present his keynote on the occasion of Papa Bruce Onobrakpeya’s Birthday celebration. It was organized by the entire Urhobo community in Delta State, Nigeria to honour their illustrious son; our own Pa Bruce Onobrakpeya at 90.

I have also benefitted from his initiative to collaborate with Nigerian scholars to write and publish academic papers. It is significant for the diaspora intelligentsia to collaborate with their Nigerian counterparts in creative and scholarly matters so that they can ignite some measures of motivation in the home based. Afterall, it is said that iron sharpeneth iron.

jegede is now 80, and it is my pleasure and honour to give the Keynote that opens up discussions and interrogates his creative and scholarly activism over the years.
The keynote will briefly highlight Jegede within the context of his historical background, which includes his schooling, career trajectory, scholarship and erudition, artistic creativity, life attainments, and achievements. We should note that in all his life endeavours, jegede chased excellence and harvested resounding success.

On a final note, some of the derivative issues that the legacy of jegede bestowed on us through his writings and artworks will be listed for critical reviews and interrogation. It is our hope that this gathering will further enhance the iconic image of jegede, a Master artist, and grant a better understanding of his scholarship and artistic philosophy.

The creative pendulum continues to swing
TIME has wings, and 10 years seems to have flown into oblivion, but great moments are retained by memories. In April 2015, jegede attained the age of 70. The Lagos and, indeed, the entire Nigerian art enthusiasts hosted him for a resounding celebration. What we have left of the highly successful convergence of scholars, connoisseurs, artists, art administrators, gallery owners, curators, family, and friends was the evergreen memory of the plural artistic and scholarly events.

The three-day programmes were held both at the University of Lagos, and the Yaba College of Technology, Lagos. Scholars and respectable artists came from as far as Zaria, Nsukka, Abuja, Abraka, Ikere-Ekiti, Akure, Ondo and Ijebu Ode. All the tertiary institutions in Lagos and Ogun States were fully represented.

The Opening ceremony at the University of Lagos was an unforgettable intellectual bash and notably the first ever so robustly staged to honour a diasporan artist/scholar in Nigeria. The Lagos creative audience was held spellbound for three days, and the events enjoyed rave reviews from journalists in both the print media and television.

The celebrated and highly decorated icon is now 80. What is new is that Jegede continues to resonate with scholarship and artistry because of his insightful and well-researched essays and the series of contextual paintings that form the nucleus of his recent exhibitions. The creative pendulum of the genius is still swinging at 80.

Valourising creativity, scholarship and activism
JEGEDE could be described as a bifurcating tower of knowledge and creativity standing on two legs. Just like the Obatala of the ancient Yoruba mythology, he is both a creative personality and an embodiment of vast knowledge and wisdom. jegede is certainly one of the finest scholars and one of the most vibrant artists who emerged in the Contemporary era with Postmodern values.

His unique contributions straddle the rigorous intellectual illumination that kindles human knowledge and the plural artistic efforts that birthed the humorous but engaging cartoons, drawings, and paintings. jegede’s pungent visual rhetoric attest to his contentist approach to formal representations.

Celebrating jegede, who clocked 80 years on the 19th of April 2025, is a veritable privilege for the Nigerian audience to acknowledge his significant contributions to the development of the theory and practice of visual arts. Apart from his intense creative and encompassing intellectual trajectories spanning over five decades, his cheerful personality is often spiced with nuanced humour that signposts uncommon humility.

Born in the idyllic setting of Ikere-Ekitii in 1945, the young jegede was inspired by the culture and the creative customs of the ancient town. He witnessed some of the annual traditional festivals which included those that were designed to lampoon, parody, and challenge social derelicts to have a rethink and therefore make positive changes in their lives and in society at large.

Such incredible experiences made indelible marks on his young, fragile, but inquisitive mind. In later years, his fertile imagination translated the impressions into appropriate humorous but instructive cartoon series in some of the Nigerian newspapers in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Professor Emeritus dele jegede

Igniting the path of success
JEGEDE attended and enrolled in art courses at the Yaba College of Technology, Yaba, Lagos, in the late 1960s. In 1969, he went to study Fine Arts at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He graduated with distinction by bagging a First Class degree in 1973. He went on to obtain both a Master’s and PhD in Art History from Indiana University, Bloomington, USA in 1981 and 1983, respectively. He was supervised by Prof Roy Sieber, the veteran Art historian and scholar who paid more than a cursory attention to the study of Contemporary African Art.

Roy Sieber, an American intellectual also supervised Prof. Babatunde Lawal and the late Prof Cornelius Adepegba. The two scholars equally contributed tremendously to art historical scholarship both in Nigeria and abroad.

jegede’s doctoral research was on Contemporary Nigerian Art and therefore became the first scholar to conduct and postulate an in-depth historical analysis of Contemporary Nigerian art. jegede, by his study, validated both the formally-trained academic artists and the informally-trained workshop artists in Nigeria.

Enduring career tracks
THE engaging career tracks of jegede resonate with the spirit of excellence. His creative and academic antecedents are well documented in various professional outlets. For a robust understanding and appreciation of his dynamic career, the key positions that he held in the past will be highlighted. A genius who was capable of multitasking, jegede bestrode the creative and academic environment of his time with panache.

He has been described as a Nigerian-American painter, art historian, cartoonist, curator, art critic, art administrator and teacher. All these he does with equal passion and convictions. After graduating from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, he was employed as the Art Editor at Daily Times of Nigeria between 1974 and 1977.

He became a faculty member of the Center for Cultural Studies, University of Lagos, in 1977; he retired fifteen years later as the Director of the Center, having made up his mind to finally relocate to the United States of America. His performance at the centre was sterling. He united and fanned the embers of creativity in the related sections of Visual Arts, Music, and Theatre Arts.

Apart from the Fulbright Scholarship at Spelman University in 1987, he also held the position of a Senior Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian Institutions in Washington, DC. He was a Professor and Chair of the Department of the Indiana State University, Terre Haute (2002-2005). In 2005-2010, he was a Professor of Art at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. jegede retired as a Professor Emeritus in May 2015.

He published numerous scholarly papers and books on Black American art and artists without abdicating the growing interest in African Art and scholarship, especially in Nigeria. In 1989, Jegede was elected as the National President of the Society of Nigerian Artists. He made landmark achievements by ensuring the official registration of the association. He opened up the society by allowing state chapters to function. He held a national exhibition in Lagos titled ‘Images of the Nigerian nation’ that brought Nigerian artists together.

As the president of SNA, he influenced the creation of the National Gallery of Art (NGA) as a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Arts and Culture. He demonstrated effective leadership in such a manner that his regime remains the measure of success for SNA to date.

He received many accolades and awards as a renowned intellectual and artist. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Africanist Award of the University of Texas. An inductee to the SNA Hall of Fame, he is also the President, Trustee of Cartoonists Association of Nigeria (CARTAN).

Healthy and creative and ascent
JEGEDE is one of the few to ascend the ladder of longevity. He just landed at the eighth floor of human existence. For over thirty years, he lives in the United States of America. The US is known for its high score in the Human Development Index. There are good social amenities, good health care system, access to education and research funds, organized social order etc. Life is good over there and by far less difficult and perilous than in Nigeria.

Professor jegede is in good health and continues to do exploits in art and academia. It is often said that longevity without commensurate productivity is a burden. jegede waxes stronger even in older age. He paints with passion to chronicle the ills of his society both in Nigeria and the US. He engages satires and anecdotes to maximally appropriate contextual effects in his paintings.

He adumbrates forms by using schema as the economy of means for encompassing visual frames. According to him, he applies the Gestalt principles of the holistic approach to visual perception, thereby allowing the audience to participate in the interpretation of his visual offerings. This encompassing and holistic approach to issues could also be found in his scholarship where he frames intellect with vast and versatile knowledge. His recent paintings are so endearing in colouration and the freshness of his palettes illuminates the entire pictorial field. He defiantly combines primary colours side by side in a manner never seen before.

Commenting on jegede’s recent use of colours, that inimitable painter of all times, the late Yusuf Grillo, once remarked, “Dele, your colours have become so harmoniously riotous, but yet so obedient to the command of forms.”

In all the seeming abstraction of forms and colours, jegede manages to convey his protestations on topical societal issues without losing touch with aesthetics. In a recent interview, he noted that as an artist, “these are the putrid streams that I have ‘aesthesized'”. His series on ‘Celestial Aesthetics’ depicted his fascination with “terminality and infinity “. The paintings were therapeutic for him after the sad loss of Ayo, his son, in December 2011.

He started exploring the Kantian philosophy of visual association using schema as the basis for gestural pictorial illusion. Some recent paintings were so beautifully rendered in both forms and colours that they seem to unlock the innovative spirit of humanity. Some of the paintings include “Wonderment,” “Protestation 1”, “Exodus,” and “The January Coup.”

jegede is a good family man. He cares so much for his children. He speaks so glowingly about his wife Joke with loving tenderness. Mama Joke continues to be the first and the resident-critic of his artworks. She supports him in every way possible to realize his life ambitions as a notable artist and a reputable scholar.

We cannot but mention his devotion to tested friends. jegede consistently identifies two individuals who are very close to him. One is a childhood friend Niyi Osundare, the poet who is a resonating gift to the world of literature. The other is Kolade Oshinowo, the prolific and admirable painter who was Jegede’s contemporary at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. The bond of friendship between these two seems to be stronger than in many others. jegede”s conviviality is infectious. He nevertheless upholds dignity and integrity. He will admonish when necessary.

Prof. Kunle Filani

Lessons from his legacies
JEGEDE has left a solid legacy of images with his well-acknowledged cartoons and paintings. His robust intellect has also produced unforgettable treatises in art historical studies and art criticism. A wordsmith who is licensed to philosophize, jegede, in his writings and interviews, consistently proves himself a great man of knowledge and wisdom.

It is, therefore, imperative that some contentious issues about scholarship and artistic creativity in Nigeria and Africa are raised for appropriate interrogation.
1) What are the challenges of art historical studies in Nigeria?
2) How do we manage the seeming proliferation of PhDs in Nigerian tertiary institutions? Is it advancing art historical research, or weakening the studio in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions?
3) Are those who obtained studio-based PhDs proving their mettle in both the studio and academics?
4) How do we resolve the issue of “split identity” for diasporan artists and scholars?
Will AI weaken studio practice or strengthen it? What is the plan for the development of Technology and Art in Nigeria?
5) Impact of dynamic Leadership in SNA both at the national and state levels.
6) Issues in art education and the development of appropriate curriculum.
7) Art forms as an expressive content.
Art activism as agent of change in Nigeria – How far?
8) Trends in art patronage – Are artists in the hooks of commercial gallerists and curators?

There are other resonating questions that demand answers. But for now, let the moderator and the panelists pay appropriate homage to the man of the moment, the intellectual giant among men, the draughtsman with the most delicate but pungent strokes. The resolute painter of critical ideas and profound Images, a creative personage in the icon – jegede.

* Filani, a former Provost of Federal College of Education, Abeokuta, is a professor of Art and Art History, African American University, PN and the US