The painter impressed Nigeria’s Afrobeat pioneer, and soon he was creating intricate record covers at Kuti’s right hand. But amid violence and disorder, their friendship soured
Teeming with stimuli in highly-populated scenes reminiscent of a Where’s Wally? spread, a Lemi Ghariokwu painting is instantly recognisable. Raised in Lagos, the 66-year-old has painted over 2,000 album covers for artists both major and independent in Nigeria and beyond, but his most famous were for Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti – visible in a new box set out this month – whose warrior spirit railed against the country’s military regime and aligned with Ghariokwu in an eventful four-year partnership.
At five years old, Ghariokwu would draw luxury cars that sometimes drove by, using a broomstick on Lagos’s unpaved sand streets. He would not pursue art professionally until 17, when he came across a record designed by Roger Dean, the British artist famous for his work with prog band Yes. “Seeing him have magazine interviews because of his work, the inspiration was foundational,” he says.
