Kelvin Okafor (born 1 November 1985)"How I became a photo-realistic artist – Kelvin Okafor"
''Vanguard'' (Nigeria), 27 December 2012. is a British hyperrealist artist who specialises in pencil portraits.

Early life and education

Okafor is of

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

descent. He grew up in

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

, London. He was educated at

St Ignatius' College St Ignatius' College is a Catholic voluntary aided secondary school for boys aged 11–18 in Enfield, London, England, founded by the Society of Jesus. It was formerly a grammar school, only accepting boys who had passed the Eleven plus exam. ...

in Enfield, where at the age of 15 he began to hone his talent for drawing. Okafor undertook a Foundation Art & Design course at

City and Guilds Art School Founded in 1854 as the Lambeth School of Art, the City and Guilds of London Art School is a small specialist art college located in central London, England. Originally founded as a government art school, it is now an independent, not-for-profit ...

(2005–06), and went on to study at

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated MDX) is a public research university in Hendon, northwest London, England. The name of the university is taken from its location within the historic county boundaries ...

(2006–09), graduating with a BA degree in Fine Art."Kelvin Okafor"
Albemarle Gallery. Awards he has won include the Catherine Petitgas Visitors Choice Prize, part of the National Open Art Competition.

Career

Okafor can confidently work with sculpture, glass, printmaking, painting and casting. He specialises in hyper-realistic portrait drawings of ordinary people and celebrities. His work is often mistaken for photographs due to their detail and likeness to reality. Early pieces includes portraits of Amy Winehouse,

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, MC (; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa ( sq, Nënë Tereza), was an Indian-Albanian Catholic nun who, in 1950, founded the Missionaries of Charity. Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu () was bo ...

, Lauryn Hill,

Jamal Jamal ( ar, جمال ''/'') is an Arabic masculine given name, meaning "beauty",Jamal
at BehindTheName.com and a surna ...

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

, Daniel Craig, Corinne Bailey Rae,

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

and Tinie Tempah. In 2017, Okafor became the first black artist to be permanently exhibited in the House of Commons with his pencil portrait of Bernie Grant. The style in which Okafor creates his portraits is known as

Hyperrealism Jean Baudrillard ( , , ; 27 July 1929 – 6 March 2007) was a French sociologist, philosopher and poet with interest in cultural studies. He is best known for his analyses of media, contemporary culture, and technological communication, as w ...

. Art Critic, Estelle Lovatt describes his work as 'Emotional Realism'. She mentions how the work of Okafor goes beyond being just 'Photorealist' drawings, and instead coins the term Emotional Realism to describe the affective nature of his artwork. Recent work More recently, Okafor's celebrity work has included a portrait of the late musician

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

, which was an integral part of his 2019 Exhibition ''Retrospective'' where he unveiled the portrait to the general public. This exhibition showcased some of Okafor's work during a 10-year period. Furthermore, in early 2020, Okafor unveiled his portrait of model Winnie Harlow in support of her charity for vitiligo. In early 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Okafor released a portrait of the late musician

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

. The original reference photo he used for this piece was transformed by his choice to open Prince's eyes in the portrait, something he had never done before. In late 2020 Okafor also featured on Sky's Portrait Artist of the Year where his muse in the competition, Fred Sirieix, selected Okafor's work to keep. Okafor also continues to develop his personal portfolio in addition to his private commissions and celebrity work.

Solo exhibitions

* ''Portraits'', 49 Albemarle Street, London, May 2014 * ''Interludes'', 49 Albemarle Street, London, September–October 2016 * ''Retrospective'', Mall Galleries, London, September 2019 * ''Kelvin Okafor x W1 Curates'', on the shop-front of Flannels store, Oxford Street, London, July 2020, in association with W1 Curates. Included portraits of black people such as

Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is cons ...

and Beyonce. Okafor exhibited again with W1 Curates in February 2021, this time dedicated to his portrait of

Skepta Chief Joseph Olaitan Adenuga Jr. (born 19 September 1982), known professionally as Skepta, is a British-Nigerian grime MC, rapper and record producer. Alongside his younger brother Jme, he briefly joined Roll Deep before they became founding ...

."W1Curates: Kelvin Okafor"
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References

External links

* {{Authority control Living people English people of Nigerian descent Black British artists Alumni of Middlesex University People educated at St Ignatius' College, Enfield British artists 1985 births