| Benedict Chuka Enwonwu | |
|---|---|
| Born | 14 July 1921 Onitsha, Nigeria |
| Died | 1994 |
| Nationality | Nigerian |
| Field | painter and sculptor |
| Movement | Modern African Art |
| Influenced by | Aina Onabolu |
Benedict Chuka Enwonwu (1921 - 1994), better known as Ben Enwonwu was an Igbo Nigerian painter and sculptor. The Enwonwu crater on the planet Mercury is named in his honor.[1]
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Ben Enwonwu was born a twin on July 14, 1921 into the noble family of Umueze-Aroli in Onitsha, Nigeria. His father, Omenka Odigwe Emeka Enwonwu was a technician who worked with the Royal Niger Company. He was also a member of the Onitsha Council of Chiefs and a traditional sculptor of repute. His mother, Ilom was a successful cloth merchant.
He learned carving from his father, and studied under Kenneth C. Murray at government colleges, Ibadan and Umuahia, 1934-1937; attended Goldsmith College, London, 1944; Ruskin College, Oxford, England, 1944-1946; Ashmolean College and Slade School of Fine Arts, Oxford, 1946-1948, graduating with first class honors; postgraduate courses in anthropology and ethnography, University of California, USA and Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA.
From 1939, he was an art teacher in various Schools, including Government College, Umuahia, and at mission school in Calabar Province, 1940-1941; at Edo College, Benin City, 1941-1943; art adviser to the Nigerian government, From 1948; during the next several years, toured and lectured in the United States, 1950 and executed many commissions as a freelance artist; editor, Nigeria Magazine, 1966; fellow, Lagos University, Lagos, 1966-1968; cultural advisor to the Nigeria government, 1968-1971; visiting artist, Institute of African Studies, Howard University, Washington, DC; appointed first professor of Fine Arts, University of Ife, Ile-Ife, 1971-1975; art consultant to the International Secretariat, Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC), Lagos, 1977; executed portraits of Nigerians as private commissions, illustrated Amos Tutuola’s The Brave African Huntress; maintains a studio in London; Fellow, Royal Anthropological Institute, London. Member: Royal Academy of Arts, London.
Enwonwu's work is displayed in the National Gallery of Modern Art, Lagos.[2] His works can also be viewed at the Virtual Museum of Modern Nigerian Art.
‘’I will not accept an inferior position in the art world. Nor have my art called African because I have not correctly and properly given expression to my reality. I have consistently fought against that kind of philosophy because it is bogus. European artists like Picasso, Braque and Vlaminck were influenced by African art. Everybody sees that and is not opposed to it. But when they see African artists who are influenced by their European training and technique, they expect that African to stick to their traditional forms even if he bends down to copying them. I do not copy traditional art. I like what I see in the works of people like Giacometti but I do not copy them. I knew Giacometti personally in England, you know. I knew he was influenced by African sculptures. But I would not be influenced by Giacometti, because he was influenced by my ancestors”.
“Art is not static, like culture. Art changes its form with the times. It is setting the clock back to expect that the art form of Africa today must resemble that of yesterday otherwise the former will not reflect the African image. African art has always, even long before western influence, continued to evolve through change and adaptation to new circumstances. And in like manner, the African view of art has followed the trend of cultural change up to the modern times”. 1950, Ben Enwonwu.