Before immigrating to Canada in 1997, Yisa Akinbolaji was recognized as a leading Nigerian artist with his work and biography included in Nigerian Artists: A Who's Who and Bibliography (1993) compiled and edited by Bernice Kelly and Janet L. Stanley of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries, Washington. D.C
He was elected to the membership of Manitoba Society of Artists in 2000, becoming its President in 2001 at the 100th Anniversary and serving until 2003. On October 12, 2010, Yisa was appointed to the board of Manitoba Arts Council.
Yisa’s professional art career began in Lagos, Nigeria, where he studied Fine Arts at the Yaba College of Arts and Technology, majoring in, painting in 1986. For more than two decades, the artist have engaged in extensive art practice: working in a variety of media (mixed media, oil, acrylic, mosaic installation and printmaking) and exhibiting in solo and group art exhibitions in public galleries and museums in Canada, the United States, and Nigeria.
Between 1988 and 1997, Yisa taught Fine Art at the Lagos State Model College, Badore. In 1988 and 1989 he was adjunct Drawing and Painting Instructor at the Lagos State College of Education, Ijanikin.
In 1993, Yisa began to explore a new technique. This technique he further developed while obtaining his M.F.A. in Visual Arts from the University of North Dakota in 2009. At UND, where he graduated with distinction, Yisa studied under the supervision of Professor Arthur Jones(Chair), Professor Kim Fink and Professor Brian Paulsen.
Yisa’s art has been exhibited at the Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery, Toronto; Nicole Gallery, Chicago; Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre, Winnipeg; Mennonite Heritage Centre Gallery, Winnipeg; and the Winnipeg Art Gallery.
Yisa has received the following awards: the McElroy-Edwards, Jackie Scholarship, USA (2008); the Winnipeg Arts Council Traveling Grant (2003); the Valerie Fostey Memorial Award, Canada (1998); and the National Youth Service Chairman's Honour, Cross River State, Nigeria (1987).
Yisa is married to Catherine Rust-Akinbolaji.
ARTIST STATEMENT:
In my work, I reveal the colours and patterns that lie beneath the covering layers of paint. As a painter I do not just paint; I create using paint. My art technique emphasizes the character of my visual narratives, my experience and my imagination in a personal and unique way. With my technique, I demand the viewer’s participation in the artistic process and discourse relating to each work.
