Johnson Eziefula Nigerian, b. 1998

Johnson Eziefula (b. 1998, Lagos, Nigeria) is a Nigerian artist who lives and works primarily in Lagos. His early engagement with art was shaped by illustrations found in canonical African literature, including works by Chinua Achebe such as Things Fall Apart and Chike and the River, as well as various anthologies of African poetry. These formative encounters continue to inform his sensitivity to narrative, memory, and psychological interiority.
Eziefula is a self-described naturalist painter whose practice centers on the human condition. Working between figuration and expressionism, his paintings explore themes of identity, cultural hybridity, intimacy, grief, and emotional presence. His work is characterized by a subdued, often monochromatic palette and a painterly restraint that privileges mood, stillness, and psychological depth over overt narration.
In 2021, Eziefula earned a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He has exhibited widely across major cities including London, New York, Miami, Brussels, Paris, Lisbon, and Stockholm. In 2022, he presented his debut solo exhibition at Maruani Mercier Gallery in Brussels.
His works are held in several notable public and private collections, including Xiao Museum of Rizhao (China), the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Buxton Contemporary (Australia), and Arsenal Contemporary (Canada).