Ayanfe Olarinde: Everything We Know About The Visual Artist Whose Paintings Are On Asake’s Album Art

When Asake announced that he would be releasing a new album in a matter of weeks, everyone was excited to see what direction this project was going to take considering that the album is titled ‘Work Of Art’. Quite literally, he had works of art in the background of his album art that were drawn by Ayanfe Olarinde.

The first noticeable piece was from a part of a carousel of images she had posted on how she uses paint remnants to create her art pieces. Some of the ten paintings made it to her ‘Now I know why birds fly’ exhibition.

The piece that appeared in Asake’s album art was inspired by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, who rose to prominence in the 1980s for his neo-expressionist style – ‘raw, expressive brush strokes and a rejection of traditional composition,’ Wayne Arthur Gallery had described Neo-expressionism.

The other piece was also from the same exhibition at the African Artists’ Foundation that was curated by the Curator and Creative Director at AAF Lagos, Princess Ayoola. In a post on the exhibition, Ayanfe said the exhibition ‘serves as a journal of youthful reemergence with its tongue on the stream of life.’

So who is Ayanfe, and what story is she telling as an artist? Ayanfe Olarinde is a 27-year-old self-taught multimedia visual artist who earned a BSc. in Microbiology from the University of Lagos in 2018.

She started her journey into the art world because of her love for scribbling, a medium she used to process and unpack her emotions. Through her painting and photography, she seeks to tell untold stories while questioning the status quo, society, and government with her art. She often aims to raise awareness and tell the stories of a marginalised group through her art.

One artistic element that influences her work is music. Over the years, she has worked with Nigerian artistes like YKB and Yinka Bernie while setting up her exhibitions and work. Other things that influence her work include Yoruba folklore and the culture, but they are usually subjected to her interpretation of these stories.

Ayanfe is simply an all round artist. She is a DJ, a visual artist, a fashion designer, and a photographer and is open to exploring every artistic outlet that helps her express herself. The big question is, are we going to be seeing more Basquiat-Ayanfe-Asake collaboration in his forthcoming project?