Lamidi Olonade Fakeye

Nigerian; Male; 1925-2009

Lamidi Olonade Fakeye (1928 – December 24, 2009) was a fifth generation Nigerian sculptor and academic. Fakeye was born in 1928 in Ila Orangun, Nigeria. He first carved a sculpture in 1938 at which point he became an apprentice to his father. In 1949, he began to be an apprentice with the master sculptor George Bamidele Arowoogun. In 1955, he went to work at Holy Cross Primary School in Lagos, Nigeria as an art instructor. His first solo exhibition was in 1960 and took place at the British Council in Nigeria. In 1962, he was an artist-in-residence at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He was elected president of the Society of Professional Artists of Nigeria in 1964. That same year, an exhibition of his work opened at the United States Information Service in Nigeria. In 1971, there was an exhibit that showed three generations of Fakeye woodcarvers in Ibadan, Nigeria. He was appointed to the faculty of University of Ife in 1978. In 1989, he served as the artist-in-residence at a number of universities in cities such as Cleveland and Pittsburgh. His autobiography was in 1996 along with a retrospective of his work at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. In 1999, the Smithsonian held also opened a retrospective of his life's work.