A Rich Palette, A Unique Style: The Abstract Art of Babatunde Ogunlade

By: Chieloka Anadu

A full-time professional studio artist based in Lagos, Nigeria, Babatunde Ogunlade studied art at Federal Polytechnic Auchi in Edo State, graduating with an upper credit in Painting in 2002, and after completing his NYSC in Kano in 2003, returned to Lagos to begin his career as a full-time studio artist – a path he has followed ever since. Over more than two and a half decades since leaving art school, he has taken part in numerous group exhibitions at home and abroad, alongside five solo exhibitions. His signature style is abstract, built from two foundational elements of art – mural design and basic design – and modified with traditional motif, a combination he has refined to make the work “more pleasant to the viewers with colourful palette.”

His inspiration comes directly from the texture of daily life around him. Ogunlade draws on the activities of his community and the varied ways people live from one location to another – the market, parties, the bus stop, and everywhere in between. He describes his environment, and Lagos especially, as full of material to draw from, with no shortage of ideas for what to paint. Once an idea takes hold, he transforms it into his own language: abstract painting, shaped by his particular palette and motifs.

Ogunlade’s influences trace back to his earliest days in the studio, during his industrial attachment at Universal Studios of Art under Mr. Abiodun Olaku. It was there, working alongside and sometimes simply observing the senior artists who passed through in the evenings after their own studio hours, that he first noticed how distinct each artist’s style could be – each known and respected for a particular brand of work. As an upcoming artist at the time, he studied them closely, through their work, through group exhibitions, and through visits to their individual studios – naming masters like Duke Asidere, Abiodun Olaku, Edosa, and Sam Ovraiti among those he learned from. What stayed with him most, he says, was their consistency and focus in doing what they knew best.

Materially, Ogunlade has worked across oil, acrylic, and pastel, though in recent years he has settled primarily into acrylic. His practice remains centered on the abstract style built from mural design and basic design, modified with traditional motif and rendered in the colourful palette that has become, in his words, his “brand of identity in Nigeria’s art industry” – a style that has carried him through more than fifty group exhibitions and five solo shows, both locally and abroad.

When creative blocks or a lack of inspiration set in, Ogunlade turns to something simple: relaxing with film, whether local or international, often action movies. Something in the costuming or the setting of a scene tends to catch his attention and spark an idea. By the end of a session, he often comes away with a batch of new sketches to paint, and he finds the same effect in returning to old catalogues or reading art books – both reliably bring new ideas to the surface, ready to be sketched out for future work.

Asked what his artwork would say if it could speak, Ogunlade imagines it asking the viewer directly: “Do you like what you see? I could see you like my colours and my ideas.” He believes what draws both viewers and collectors to his work is precisely that – the uniqueness of his style, his colour, and his overall concept.

Participating in the Anadu Art Fair, he says, opened up a new dimension in his artistic journey, offering a chance to expand not just his practice but his business relationships. As he puts it, success in art is often about more than selling work – building avenues for long-term professional relationships matters just as much for a practising artist. Being part of the inaugural Anadu Art Fair gave him the opportunity to meet new people, particularly fellow professional artists, both at home and on the international stage.

Follow Ogunlade’s journey on instagram: babatundeogunladestudio1