Olu Amoda

Olu Amoda (Nigeria, born. 1959) is a Nigerian sculptor, muralist, furniture designer, and multi-media artist is best known for using relics of discarded consumer and industrial used materials such as rusty nails, metal plates, bolts, pipes, spoons and rods, that are welded together to create sculptural figures, animals, flora and ambiguous, to highlight Nigerians socio-political and cultural egresses and issues from sex, politics, race and conflict to consumerism and economic distribution. He founded the Riverside Art and Design Studios in Lagos, Nigeria.
== Early life and education ==
Amoda was born in Warri in the Niger Delta in 1959 to a goldsmith father. in his early years, Olu intends to study graphics, after he gained admission to study at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, he later forfeit when he couldn't meet a provisional West African School Certificate Examination result. years later Amoda graduate in sculpture from Auchi Polytechnic in Auchi, Nigeria in 1983. In four years, 1987, he started teaching at the Yaba College of Technology, while he resides at the University of Lagos staff quarters which prompt his first large art metal gates series "Doors of Paradise" and "Windows of Dreams", a work characterised by art and security. In 2009, he earned a masters in Fine Arts from Georgia Southern University in Georgia, USA. He is the founder of Riverside Art and Design Studios in Yaba, Lagos, and continues to. In 1987 he started teaching Sculpture and Drawing at the School of Art, Design and Printing at Yaba College of Technology in Lagos.
== Career ==
Amoda is considered one of Nigeria’s leading contemporary artists. in January 2020, he was announced the Artistic director of "Now Sculpture" 2020 exhibition, by Sculptors Association of Nigeria,ScAN, for the 2020 National conference organised by ScAN. When the Marketing Communications and Advisory firm in Lagos, "DIgiBrands" launched the sustainability media platform Hub Africa in 2019, Amoda was among the team to discuss its the goals and initiatives. Because of his artistic fluidity, Amoda was among the contributors at historic Zaria Art Society (Zaria Rebels) in November 2019, at Victoria Island, Lagos.
In 2000, he worked as an Artist-in-Residence in Villa Arson in Nice, France, Amoda worked at the Bag Factory in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2003. Other places he worked include the Appalachian State University, in Boone, and North Carolina and at the New York Design Museum, in 2006 and 2010 respectively. Olu Amoda's participated in many exhibition that have been featured in many local and international prestigious collections including the Newark Museum in New Jersey, USA, Museum of Art & Design, USA; Skoto Gallery, New York; Georgia Southern University, USA; Villa Arson in Nice, France, and the Bag Factory in Johannesburg,The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Headquarters, Switzerland; the Didi Museum, Nigeria; the 6th Biennale de L'Art African Contemporain, Senegal; the Newark Museum, Fondation Blachère and the Sindika Dokolo Foundation, the Victoria & Albert Museum, UK, Among other places.
His work was featured in “Lend Me Your Dream", a pan-African exhibition organized by Foundation for the Development of Contemporary African Culture. He founded the of Riverside Art and Design Studios in Yaba, Lagos, 2017. Amoda started his teaching career in 1987, where he taught Sculpture and Drawing at the School of Art, Design and Printing at Yaba College of Technology in Lagos since. Olu Amoda lives and works in Lagos, Nigeria.
=== Selected works ===
* Index Season ii, june 2017 at Eko Hotels & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
== Awards ==
Amoda has received numerous prestigious awards including 
* the Delta State Honor For The Most Innovative Sculptor of The Year.
* In 2014 his work,Sunflower, earned him the Grand Prix Léopold Sédar Senghor prize at Dak’Art, the 11th Biennial of the Contemporary African Art in Dakar, Senegal. An art which explores the connection between mass industry and the organic.
== References ==
Category:Nigerian people
Category:Nigerian sculptors
Category:Nigerian artists