Faida Samuel
Fidelis Joseph is among the emerging generation of Nigerian contemporary artists whose practice continues to expand across local and international art spaces. Originally from Adamawa State in northeastern Nigeria, Joseph’s artistic journey reflects a steady commitment to creative growth, experimentation, and intellectual inquiry. Working primarily through painting and drawing, his works explore memory, lived experience, fragments of personal history, and the emotional possibilities of materials. Through his works, he invites viewers to a space of reflection and interpretation. Fidelis Joseph is a visual artist from Adamawa State, in the northeastern part of Nigeria. He holds a B.A. (HONS) in Fine Art from the premier Zaria Art, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, specializing in painting in 2017.
Joseph began his artistic career in Lagos, where he spent some time engaging in different artistic activities, and his quest for more knowledge propelled him to enroll at Cranbrook Academy of Arts, Michigan, USA, for his postgraduate studies. In 2023, he obtained a Master’s of Fine Arts Degree (MFA) in Painting.
After the Northeast, Fidelis Joseph, Oil, stick on Canvas, 85.3 X 95
Joseph is a recipient of the following awards and honors: Artist of the Year, Department of Fine Arts, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 2017, and Cranbrook Art Museum Purchase Prize Award, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Michigan, United States of America, in 2023. Throughout his artistic journey, he has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions at both national and international levels. Some of his solo exhibitions include: 1-54 Art fair, Harlem New York, organized by Dada Art Gallery, London in 2023, In search of home, Lagos, Nigeria, in 2021, and Today, A Dream of Yesterday, Lagos, Nigeria, in 2020. Some of his group shows are: Kaduna Art Fair, organized by National Gallery of Art Abuja, in collaboration with Fine Arts department Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna, Nigeria, in 2017; The Maker Lab, AAF, Lagos Nigeria in 2017; Expo-Chicago Art Fair, organized by Fridman Gallery, New York, USA, in 2023; and Untitled Art Fair, Miami Beach, Florida, organized by Fridman Gallery, New York, in 2023. Double Down, Upstate New York, presented by NXTHVN and The Campus Upstates. Independent Art Fair, organized by Frideman Gallery, New York, in 2024, among others.
Joseph has benefited and participated in some art residences and art workshops, some of which are the ten (10) months studio fellow, NXTHVN fellowship program, New Haven, CT. From 2023 to 2024, a one-month residency at the Tree House facilitated by Wura Ogunji, Lagos Nigeria in 2021, The Back to base workshop in collaboration with Goethe-institute, Lagos, Nigeria, in 2019, Six (6) months art residency at African Artists’ Foundation (AAF), Lagos. Nigeria in 2019 and Five (5) months art workshop with RELE FOUNDATION, Lagos, Nigeria in 2019.
Sukur Kingdom, Journey into Adulthood, Fidelis Joseph, Oil and stick on Canvas 98×84, 2023.
Joseph enumerates on what drives his art thus, “I make paintings and drawings composed of fragments of events and memories that emerge through the act of making, using oil on canvas, and other materials of my choice”. He further explains that, “working intuitively has taught me that, my paintings are not just one thing, but many things. Such as the urge to say everything at the same time, and not wanting to say anything as I go on to obscure what initially appears to be more representative”. On what he is currently doing, in terms of his professional practice, he export that, “my most recent works are driven by my interest in using familiar materials such as spray paint, oil and enamel on canvas, to open up other visual possibilities that I work with”
