Illustrations

As an illustrator at the government-controlled DTN, Victor Ekpuk navigated a restrictive political sphere, while producing striking works to complement articles on a wide range of topics. In multiple feature editorials for the Saturday Times and the Sunday Times, the visual content functioned in conversation with the written content, at times extending the analysis offered by the authors of the text, or even presenting discursive counter narratives.

Ekpuk carefully approached his illustrations, using various techniques to veil his arguments. He sometimes employed satire to discreetly lampoon the government apparatus and to bring focus to issues in the sociopolitical environment. With as much frequency, he incorporated his scribbling, as jegede observed (2018: 27–31), dismissing the long-held divisions between art and illustration, to generate more open-ended dialog.

Excerpt from Hidden Elements Victor Ekpuk’s Illustrations for the Daily Times of Nigeria published in African Arts Journal. Vol.54 Issue 4. Winter 2021.

By Janine Sytsma Phd. Professor of Arts of Africa and the African Diaspora with an emphasis on contemporary art within the context of global geopolitics. University of Arkansas.