Anthony Azekwoh

Anthony Azekwoh (born May 17, 2000) is a Nigerian contemporary digital artist, author, and entrepreneur based in Lagos, Nigeria. His work intertwines digital art with African folklore, mythology, and Afrofuturist themes, primarily exploring Yoruba cosmology and Nigerian cultural narratives. He has been described as "one of the most visible digital artists on the continent" and is known for his viral 2020 artwork The Red Man, which sold for $25,000 as an NFT.

Azekwoh has collaborated with international brands including Meta and Psyonix (Rocket League), and created artwork for musicians such as Adekunle Gold, Masego, Blaqbonez, Show Dem Camp, and Simi. His works have been collected by celebrities including Cynthia Erivo, Jae5, and Lojay.

Early life and education Anthony Azekwoh was born in 2000 in Lagos, Nigeria. There he met Nigerian writer and linguist Kola Tubosun, his English teacher, who became his mentor. He is entirely self-taught as a visual artist, having learned digital painting through Photoshop while studying the techniques of neoclassical painters including Jacques-Louis David and Norman Rockwell. His published works include Star (2020), The Day the Devil Came To Nigeria, and Sango Oya. He has also written a series titled The Fall of the Gods published on Brittle Paper, and is developing a comic series called The Witches of Auchi. The painting depicts a figure shrouded in red hues with a stoic gaze, which Azekwoh described as feeling "fully mine: bold, raw, and different."

Commercial work and collaborations Azekwoh has designed album and single artwork for Nigerian and international musicians including Adekunle Gold, Blaqbonez, Show Dem Camp, Masego, Simi, Jae5, and Young Jonn.

His commercial clients include Meta, for whom his artwork was featured in an NFT gallery as part of the #FlexNaija mixed reality initiative in Nigeria in 2022, and Psyonix, for whom he produced cinematic key art for Rocket League. 2023: "There Is a Country" – Toured Lagos, Abuja, London, and New York. The exhibition explored Nigeria's history and trauma through portraiture and layered symbolism. 2022: "Becoming" – Abuja, Nigeria. A month-long exhibition at the Discovery Museum in the Art-Tech District. 2021: "Homecoming" – Lagos, Nigeria. His first solo exhibition, featuring 36 digital artworks. Described as Nigeria's biggest solo exhibition by a digital artist at the time. Inspired by his own early struggles and the lack of institutional support for young artists, the fund provides grants to help nurture the next generation of Nigerian creatives.

In late 2021, he also initiated an alumni art prize at Whitesands School, his former secondary school, to reward exemplary students in the arts.

Awards and recognition 2017: Awele Trust Prize (for the short story "The Fall of the Gods") 2018: Loose Convo Grant