Norbert Okpu: Family ties

Norbert Okpu is a visual artist who grew up in Emu Uno in Delta state of Nigeria. His work remains heavily influenced by the diverse cultural values in his country. Okpu is a visual journalist with a strong desire to be an instrument unto noble purposes. Themes in his work reveal his passion for creating art that educates, inspires and contributes to humanity.He holds a Fine and Applied Art degree from Yaba College of Technology (Nigeria,1998). His art exhibits in galleries, museums, and auction houses such as the National Museum of Art, Amsterdam Whitney Gallery in Chelsea, New York (2012) and recently at Arthouse Contemporary (Lagos); it also features in educational books for higher learning institutions. He also received an artist-in-residency grant from Vermont Studio Center (Johnson, Vermont 2014).An early influence on Okpu’s surrealistic style of painting was Salvador Dali while Picasso inspired his interest in cubism. His preferred mediums are extensive and vary from sawdust, wood, dried leaf, calabash, plastic and fabrics and acrylic color.He currently lives and works in Lagos Nigeria where he is the general secretary for the Guild of Professional Fine Artist of Nigeria.