Idowu Oluwaseun’s (b. 1982; Nigeria) genre is the portrait of people from his Nigerian homeland, both men and women, all at a young age. The way in which he portrays people is reminiscent of the portrait style of African photographers, in particular Seydou Keïta, who was born in Bamako, Mali, in 1923 and died in Paris in 2001. Idowu refers to his work as a source of inspiration, and parallels are indeed recognizable. Keïta also had his models pose in front of the camera in his studio with their belongings or accessories such as radios, watches or scooters. He also had them wear African outfits. Idowu adopted this idea. However, in contrast to Keïta’s portraits, whose faces touch us emotionally and give us an idea of emotional states and life situations, Idowu primarily shows bodies without physiognomy in all their beauty.

He lends his models an anonymity that protects them from interrogation by covering their heads with patterned cloths, either completely or partially, so that only the nose and mouth are visible. To the extent that he hides everything that we usually associate with portraits, we can speak here of an anti-portrait in a certain sense. Neither names are mentioned, nor characteristics named. A look behind the outer appearance is thus made impossible. This prevents us from forming a concrete picture of the models. The facelessness is a concept, insofar as the reading of traces of life in the faces is not only pushed into the background, but is deliberately limited. “The faces,” says Idowu, “are deliberately obscured to protect the bearers of my message. And to show how faceless the minority is.”

His works have been exhibited at Kunsthalle Tübingen; Haus der Kunst, München; Ross Sutton Gallery, Miami; Kunsthaus Mettmann; Houston Museum of African American Culture, Houston and Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles among others.

Idowu studied Art Design and Printing at the Yaba College of Technology in Lagos (2006) and holds an MFA from the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (2013).

He currently lives and works in Houston, Texas.