AAF NYC Fall 2026
Tosin Toromade
Tosin Tòròmade was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and began drawing at a young age, delighting anyone who came into contact with his creative talents. His love in art led him to seek a degree in Fine and Applied Arts. He received his bachelor's degree with honors from Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
He is a seasoned professional artist, a multidimensional art guru, and a teacher who has chosen to express himself using new media such as photography, digital art, and most recently filmmaking, rather than traditional painting and drawing approaches.
He joined the Tender Arts Foundation as an Arts in Medicine fellow in 2019. His art therapy expertise and experience have also aided him in contributing to the therapeutic wellbeing of patients in a number of Nigerian public and private institutions.
He has carved a space for himself as a portrait and figurative artist with numerous successful group art exhibits and a solo exhibition. Through a blend of symbolism, texture, and iconography, he aims to represent the shape, mind, mood, and expression of humanity, as well as the problems that come with existence and survival in Africa.
He is now researching visual art as a means of inspiration for everyone.
Tòrò, as he is affectionately known, is continuously seeking for new ways to capture events and make art through constant investigation of alternative creative materials such as charcoal and coffee.
Passionate art enthusiasts, collectors, and galleries have taken up residence in his works.
Tosin Toromade is based in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, where he also works on his art.
Ezekiel Orie
Ezekiel Orie is a self-taught visual artist based in Benin City, Nigeria, whose practice is rooted in personal reflection and emotional observation. Born in 2000, his journey into art has been one of self-discovery — shaped by an instinctive connection to drawing as a space for clarity, rest, and introspection.
Working primarily with charcoal and pastel on paper, Ezekiel's practice is rooted in hyperrealism — using meticulous detail and raw texture to capture the psychological presence of his subjects. His portraits often exist in a quiet tension between precision and vulnerability.
Stanley Ugonabo
Stanley Ugonabo was born in 1998 in Anambra, in the Eastern part of Nigeria. He studied Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, winning the best graduating student's prize for creative excellence in 2019. He is currently based in Lagos.
An abstract figurative painter working in oil, Stanley's paintings are characterised by stylised figures rendered through an ethereal, luminous palette and meticulously layered brushwork — a visual language that dissolves the boundary between the physical and the metaphysical, allowing colour to evoke presence as much as form. He describes his practice as "world-building": scenes with recurring characters capturing man's yearning for existential truths and our collective search to reconcile our place within the human experience.
His figures are typically suspended in moments of trance, contemplation, and introspection. While his visual language continues to evolve, the human figure remains its constant anchor — a vessel through which he examines the shifting tensions between inherited traditions, contemporary existence, and the philosophies that shape our understanding of ourselves.
The works in this exhibition draw from multiple bodies of work, each reflecting a different stage in an ongoing inquiry. Through chromatic symbolism and the subtle emotional language of the figure, they examine the foundations of accepted human beliefs, revisit the enduring wisdom of traditional life, and invite contemplation on the philosophical realities of human suffering, persecution, and the effects of persisting ideological conflict.