Victor Ehikhamenor

Victor Ehikhamenor

Victor Ehikhamenor is a multimedia artist, photographer, and writer, who has been described by Ventures Africa (2016) as one of Africa’s most innovative contemporary artists and one of 42 African Innovators to Watch. He is the founder of Angels and Muse, a thought laboratory dedicated to the promotion and development of contemporary African art and literature in Lagos, Nigeria. The project was featured on the 10th episode of Netflix’s “Amazing Interiors” series in July 2018.

As a writer, Victor Ehikhamenor has published fictions and critical essays in academic journals, magazines, and newspapers around the world including the New York Times, Guernica Magazine, BBC, CNN Online, Washington Post, to name a few. The writer’s debut poetry collection Sordid Rituals, was published in 2002. His book, Excuse Me! (2012), is a recommended text in two Nigerian universities and his short story, The Supreme Command, won the Association of Commonwealth Broadcasters Award in 2003.

Victor’s art and photographs have been used for editorials as well as cover art on books by authors such as Chimamanda Adichie, Helon Habila and Chika Unigwe. They have also been illustrated on fabric and exhibited at international fashion parades. The artist’s work with Nigerian designer Ituen Basi was featured in Vogue Italia (2013). 

Victor obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language and Literature from Ambrose Alli University, Nigeria, (1991) and was awarded two master’s degrees in Technology Management (2003) and an MFA (2008) from the University of Maryland, USA. He has also received fellowships from organisations such as the Rockefeller Foundation, USA (2016), the Nirox Foundation South Africa, (2016) and the Norman Mailer Centre USA.

Read Also: Emmanuel Iduma

As a contemporary artist, Victor has held several solo exhibitions including  Invasion of Privacy at Jennings Gallery, Washington, D.C. (2008); Artist Experience at Whitespace, Ikoyi, Lagos; Chronicles of The Enchanted World at Gallery of African Art, London, UK (2014); Paperwork: Works on paper at Constant Capital Gallery, Lagos, Nigeria (2015); and In the Kingdom of This World at Tyburn Gallery, London, UK (2017). 

The artist’s work has also been included in numerous group exhibitions and other biennales including Whose Land Have I Lit on Now? at SAVVY Contemporary, Germany; Soundlines of Contemporary Art, Yerevan, Armenia; Biennale Jogja XIII, Indonesia (2015); 56^th Venice Biennale as part of the German Pavilion (2015); the 5^th Mediations Biennale in Poznan, Poland (2016); 12^th Dak’art Biennale in Dakar, Senegal (2016); and was one of four artists selected to represent Nigeria at the 57^th Venice Biennale in 2017. 

In 2018, he participated in a four-week residency at Art Dubai Art Fair, as part of a solo project entitled Cartographers of Dreams and in 2019, his work was included in the group exhibition FILAM(A)NT at Fondation Blachère, France. 

You can learn more about Victor Ehikhamenor on www.victorehi.com