Ademola Olugebefola ( Bedwick Lyola Thomas; born October 2, 1941)[1][2] is an American multidisciplinary visual artist, designer, educator, musician, and businessperson from Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.[3][4] He is considered a founder within the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s.[5] Olugebefola art practice includes work in painting, murals, printmaking, illustration, drawing, theatre scenic design, and sculpture.[6] He lives in Harlem, New York City, where he moved in 1966.[5][7]

Ademola Olugebefola
Born
Bedwick Lyola Thomas

(1941-10-02) October 2, 1941 (age 83)
Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
EducationFashion Institute of Technology (AA)
Occupation(s)Visual artist, designer, educator, musician, businessperson
MovementBlack Arts Movement
SpousePat Davis (m. ?–2017; her death)
Children7

Early life and education

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Ademola Olugebefola was born as Bedwick Lyola Thomas on October 2, 1941, in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. At a young age he moved with his family to New York City, where he was raised.[3]

He graduated with an A.A. degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology.[8]

Career

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Fine arts

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Olugebefola joined the Twentieth-Century Creators group in 1964; and was a founder of Weusi Artist Collective in 1965 and subsequently the Weusi Gallery in New York City.[2] These three organizations supported African American artists, made work for a Black audience, and their work often featured pan-African aesthetics, themes and symbols.[2][9] He later co-founded of the Dwyer Cultural Center in Harlem, New York City.[4]

Olugebefola took part in the exhibitions Seeing Jazz: Artists and Writers on Jazz (1997) at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.;[10] Black Art-Ancestral Legacy: The African Impulse in African-American Art (1989–1990) at the Dallas Museum of Art in Dallas, Texas; and When The Spirit Moves: African American Art Inspired by Dance (2000–2001) at the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art in Atlanta, and Anacostia Community Museum in Washington D.C..[2][11]

Olugebefola's work can be found in museum collections, including the Studio Museum in Harlem;[12] and his papers are in the archives at Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Design and business

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He has illustrated many books, magazines, and other publications, including Shirley E. Riley's poetry book, The Cool is Gone (1979).[2]

In the 1970s with his brothers, he opened "Ori-Gem", a Caribbean apparel store and gallery in St. Thomas.[1] In 1978, he opened "Tetrahedron", an arts brokerage.[1] In 1980, he opened with his wife Pat Davis, Solar Associates an marketing, advertising, and graphic production firm.[1]

Exhibitions

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Ademola Olugebefola papers 1967–1990". Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library. Retrieved 2024-09-20.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Olugebefola, Ademola". Benezit Dictionary of Artists. Oxford University Press. October 31, 2011. doi:10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.b00204818. Retrieved 2024-09-20.
  3. ^ a b Lewis, Samella S. (2003). "Ademola Olugebefola (b. 1941)". African American Art and Artists. University of California Press. pp. 144–145. ISBN 978-0-520-23935-7 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ a b Nesmith, Nathaniel G. (2021-10-20). "Doing It His Way: Ademola Olugebefola's Long and Varied Career in the Arts". New England Review, Vol. 42, No. 3. Retrieved 2024-09-20.
  5. ^ a b "Harlem celebrates life of artist Ademola Olugebefola". New York Amsterdam News. October 11, 2022. Retrieved 2024-09-20.
  6. ^ "Ademola Olugebefola". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 2024-09-20.
  7. ^ "Three Artists to Watch at the Harlem Fine Arts Show". Ebony. February 15, 2023. ISSN 0012-9011.
  8. ^ Edmunds, Allan L. (2004). Three Decades of American Printmaking: The Brandywine Workshop Collection. Hudson Hills. p. 206. ISBN 978-1-55595-241-9 – via Google Books.
  9. ^ Ali, Grace Aneiza (February 19, 2010). "A Weusi Reunion at Harlem's Dwyer Cultural Center -". Of Note Magazine. NAACP LDF. Retrieved 2024-09-20.
  10. ^ a b Behrens, Roy (1998). "Seeing Jazz: Artists and Writers on Jazz by Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (review)". Leonardo (Review). 31 (3): 238–238. ISSN 1530-9282.
  11. ^ a b Mason, M.S. (November 10, 2000). "Dance moves the spirit". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 2024-09-20.
  12. ^ "Artists: Ademola Olugebefola". Studio Museum in Harlem. Retrieved 2024-09-20.
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