Identity · Imoniavwodo Efe Israel
The Carved Legacy
Imoniavwodo Efe Israel and the carvers who still work in the tradition of the Benin Kingdom.
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Imoniavwodo Efe Israel
Delta State, Nigeria · lives in Lagos · b. 1996
Biography
Imoniavwodo Efe Israel studied fine art at Yaba College in Lagos and has worked as a painter since 2019. He calls himself an art historian with a brush. His paintings take the carved doors, bronzes and court figures of the Benin Kingdom and bring them into the present: kings, attendants, messengers and beadmakers, set in dense ornament and strong colour.
He researches old Benin traditions before he paints them, and he sees his pictures as a way to keep that history in view while customs change. Our documentary “The Carved Legacy” follows him to the carvers who still work in this tradition.
Film loop: a carver shapes wood in the tradition of the Benin Kingdom.
In the light of the Benin Kingdom
Carved relief in the Benin tradition. From the film The Carved Legacy.
Works
10 works. Click a work to look closer.
General Asoro, 2022Imoniavwodo Efe IsraelAcrylic on canvas107 × 136 cm
Knowledge Transmittion, 2025Imoniavwodo Efe IsraelAcrylic on canvas229 × 133 cm
Messenger, 2022Imoniavwodo Efe IsraelAcrylic on canvas136 × 107 cm
Óbaghatókpére, 2023Imoniavwodo Efe IsraelAcrylic on canvas182 × 129 cm
Ọmwan ekponmwen (Adore), 2023Imoniavwodo Efe IsraelAcrylic on canvas91 × 91 cm
Ọmwuyi, 2023Imoniavwodo Efe IsraelAcrylic on canvas107 × 136 cm
Ose, 2023Imoniavwodo Efe IsraelAcrylic on canvas91 × 91 cm
The Beadmaker, 2024Imoniavwodo Efe IsraelAcrylic on canvas152 × 106 cm
The Oba’s Attendant, 2023Imoniavwodo Efe IsraelAcrylic on canvas107 × 136 cm
Uvbi, 2023Imoniavwodo Efe IsraelAcrylic on canvas107 × 136 cm
