Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Victor Ekpuk

Victor Ekpuk is an internationally-renowned Nigerian-American artist based in Washington, D.C.His paintings, drawings, and sculptures reflect indigenous African philosophies of the Nsibidi and Uli art forms.Ekpuk received his Bachelor of Fine Art degree (BFA), Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, Nigeria, where he first explored the aesthetic philosophies of Nsibidi (a system of symbols or proto-writing developed by the Ekpe secret society that traversed the southeastern part of Nigeria).His knowledge of nsibidi dates back to his childhood through his grandfather, but it wasn’t until he was an art student that he became fascinated with this form of writing.This led to his adaptation, modification and (re)invention of nsibidi into his own signature “script”, which he humorously describes as his “scribblings”.Ekpuk’s artwork is characterized by intricate, large-scale compositions that merge African writing, knowledge and aesthetics with his own artistic expression.The artist invites us to (re)examine simplistic definitions of calligraphy, the boundaries between architecture, sculpture and script, and the distinctions between writing, graphic writing and art.More of Victor Ekpuk‘s unique sculptured writing forms can be found at https://www.victorekpuk.com/.