Akinola Lasekan was an outstanding editorial cartoonist of his time who paved the way for all other Nigerian artists, painters and cartoonists.
Akinola Lasekan: Cartooning, Art and Nationalism at the Dawn of a New Nigeria — speaks to the breadth of Lasekan’s moments and motivations. It speaks to his roots and the extensive Yoruba intellectual tradition and the convention of other societies that his work benefited from.
This very insightful and gorgeous coffee table book takes us through the routes that Lasekan took in time and space (in colonial and independent Nigeria, rural and urban spaces, and in locations at home and abroad) and the ripples he made while developing, exhibiting, and sharing his talent.
Lasekan served as an exemplar of how cartoonists took their work seriously, attracted attention, and began to be treated by hegemonies in Nigeria. He was a self-taught and self-motivated painter, teacher and entrepreneur.