Page 65 - UZOMA EKPECHAM Art Collection Vol 1 Updated

Ghariokwu Lemi

Lemi Abiodun Ghariokwu was born Emmanuel Sunday on 26 December 1955, in Agege, Lagos. He is from Agbor, Delta State but has
spent all his life in Lagos, Nigeria. He grew up in Igbobi, Fadeyi in Lagos State with his parents and siblings
Lemi and Fela Lemi met Fela Kuti in 1974 through Babatunde Harrison, (a journalist for Sunday Punch). He walked into a pub
and stumbled on an art work Lemi did for the pub owner. He requested to see more and he saw one of the illustrations Lemi did of
Roforofo Fight. This spurred him to take Lemi to meet Fela. On this first meeting, Fela was impressed with Lemi's work and offered
to pay him but he refused the money. This became his ticket into Kalakuta Republic.Lemi's relationship with Fela Anikulapo Kuti was
very cordial. He gave Lemi total freedom with his work and thoughts to the level that he just did as he pleased, albeit responsibly,
with how and what he wanted to express. Lemi had the rare privilege of putting his photograph and comments on some of the covers
and was treated like a son, friend, adviser and comrade by the Afrobeat legend. Ghariokwu's approach to his work with Kuti
involved listening to and digesting the music and then expressing his reaction in his paintings, design and comments which provide a
high level of detail on the many album covers he delivered.
Career Art Lemi's work involves a variety of styles, often using vibrant colors and individuated typefaces of his own design. His
art is said to be rebellious, comical, political, even erotic but most of all he is a genius in pictorial narration, realism and iconicity.
Dance of the matrons
Many of Ghariokwu's cover images echo and sometimes comment on the work and politics of the recordings that they accompany,
serving a consciously integrated meta-textual function. He is famous for his captivating and intricate record sleeves designs and he
35.4 x 43.3 inches, never fails to give life to lyrics through his pictorial images. He created and mastered 26 of Fela's album covers. The Observer Music
Acrylic on Canvas, Magazine, UK, called him "King Of Covers" during his solo exhibition in the UK in 2004.
2013 Asides designing 26 album covers for Fela Anikulapo Kuti. He also designed covers for Osita Osadebe, James Iroha, Bob
Marley, Kris Okotie, Lucky Dube, Gilles Peterson, Miriam Makeba and about a hundred other musicians across the globe. In the
early 1980s, he was the consulting album cover designer for Polygram (Phonogram+Polydor) records in Nigeria for 11 years. He
also printed and designed album covers for many Kennis Music artists, including 2 Face, Lagbaja, Kenny St. Brown, Sound Sultan and
many others for 11 years. He has designed over 2000 album covers and facilitated art workshops abroad. He designed for EMI, CBS
and Ivory music. He also designed logos for Fame Weekly, Ivory Music and National Encomium. MTV president Mark Rosenthal
commissioned the painting Everybody's Gotta be Somebody.

The Music Mestro

60 x 60 inches
Acrylic on canvas
2017

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