Ekene Stanley Emecheta is a self-taught artist whose work is characterised by a distinctive use of colour and compositional technique and his iconography of figures drawn from both fantasy, history and his private world. By covering his Black subjects’ skin with gauzy shades of white, he intends to erase a characteristic that typically limits, categorizes, and defines. Ekene’s subjects – desaturated yet detailed – are both real and imagined, often including people who have had an impact on his life, whether historical figures or family and friends. They become the narrators of the stories he wishes to communicate.


Emecheta Stanley Ekene (b.1994) is a self-taught artist living and working in Abuja. Ekene has a BS in Civil Engineering from Madonna University, Enugu, Nigeria. Recent Solo exhibitions include Green Era, The Breeder Gallery, Athens, (2023); Family Ties, Daniel Benjamin Gallery, London, (2021) and Truthful Waters, The Breeder Gallery, Athens, (2021). Recent Group exhibitions include Art Basel, The Breeder Gallery, Basel (2023); Frieze London, The Breeder Gallery, London (2022); The Armory Show, The Breeder Gallery, New York (2022); Felix Art Fair, The Breeder Gallery, Los Angeles (2022) and Group exhibition, Urevbu Contemporary gallery, Memphis (2021) among others. Ekene has featured in publications such as Frieze, The Guardian, FAD and Exhibition Review.