Sly Megida

Chimaobi Okenwa is a Lagos-born artist from Ojo whose practice grew organically from a childhood spent making sandcastles, kites and Rafia art in a community where music and football overshadowed visual culture. Self-driven rather than formally trained, he built his style around influences spanning Andy Warhol, Bob Ross, Ben Enwonwu and Bruce Onobrakpeya, merging cultural storytelling with bold, contemporary technique.

His work is characterised by rich oil colours and a signature dreamy quality, and has been exhibited at Orisun Gallery and Kokopelli Gallery, among other venues. Beyond the canvas, he thinks in terms of scale and access — from large-scale murals across Nigeria to collaborations with musician King Perryy that bridge visual art, music and public space.

His practice also extends into immersive live experiences through Art After Dark: Cocktails & Canvas, a recurring live painting and nightlife concept exploring the relationship between art, sound, movement and audience interaction.

His sensibilities surface most clearly in the Orange Initiative — his platform for community empowerment through art — and in his broader pursuit of global partnerships that keep his work accessible to diverse audiences. At the core, Chimaobi’s work is about culture, resilience, identity, and the conviction, formed early in Ojo, that art can inspire and transform even where it is least expected.