Kanayo Ede Works

Growing up in southeastern Nigeria, Kanayo was introduced to the magic of color at a young age, on the Dutch-wax fabrics his father, a textile dealer, imported from Holland.

After obtaining a BFA degree from the University Of Maiduguri in the former ancient Kanem Bornu Empire, he worked as an art instructor at a college of education where he taught figure drawing and landscape painting. He left a year later after his national service for MC & A, a Saatchi and Saatchi Advertising agency where he was designer / illustrator and a senior visualizer. Three years later Kanayo packed up and left the country for the United States to paint full time.

"I will always give credit to my role model, the man who inspired me the most to pursue art as a career, Mr Roland Ndefo, my High School art teacher at Dennis Memorial Grammar School Onitsha who we fondly called 'Art Master'".

Today, this prolific artist says that he is inspired by all the colors and shapes he sees in nature. "This is why I love painting scenery.... I can move trees, clouds, houses and other elements around and they never complain."