Fidel Nnamdi Oyiogu is a Nigerian painter born in 1957 whose work draws on the Uli tradition of Igbo body and wall decoration. Uli was revived as a modern painting language by artists linked to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and Oyiogu belongs to the wider circle of painters who took up its flowing line and symbolic motifs. His canvases are colourful and lyrical, often showing groups of women, maidens and dancers moving to music, with joyful faces and adorned bodies. Lagos critic Tajudeen Sowole has written about his solo shows, describing his distinctive approach (sometimes called 'Oyiogunic') as a fusion of Uli line with a dreamlike, surreal feel and an interest in illusion and perceived reality. His oil 'The Young Maiden Dancers (II)' (2011, 122 x 122 cm) is in the Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art at Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos, one of Nigeria's main private museum collections, and is featured on Google Arts & Culture. AskArt lists him with auction records, so his work has appeared at auction, but the details sit behind a subscription. He is a mid-career-to-senior figure in Igbo-themed contemporary painting rather than a widely known name internationally.
School or movement: Uli-inspired Igbo contemporary painting (Nsukka School influence).
Influenced by Uli (Igbo traditional body and wall art), Igbo music and dance traditions.
