The art of the surreal is fast disappearing, giving way to certainty, specificity, abstraction, and a more concrete form of storytelling. Yet, Abayomi Barber may well be Nigeria’s first—and perhaps truest—surrealist.
Barber began his artistic journey sculpting and painting realistic figures, displaying an exceptional eye for detail from an early age. His transition to surrealism took root in the 1960s while he was in London. Already immersed in realism and hyperreal figuration, he started introducing subtle variations to his figures—small distortions that hinted at something beyond the ordinary.
By the time he returned to Nigeria and began teaching at the University of Lagos, his fascination with the forests around him sparked a new phase of work. But he was no longer interested in merely recreating these landscapes. Instead, he sought to invent something entirely new—enchanted forests where imagination could soar. In the forests around Akoka, he saw lions in the trees, faces in the rocks, and spirits in the skies. His landscapes were not just beautiful; they were ethereal, transcending reality to reflect his own vision. Within these mystical scenes, he embedded a myriad of characters—some immediately recognizable, others hidden, waiting to be discovered.
Barber’s surrealism made the everyday magical, mystical, and even heavenly. His dreamlike compositions elevated nature and human figures into something otherworldly, inviting viewers into a realm where reality and fantasy intertwined. His surrealist landscapes, rich with depth and wonder, remain the benchmark for surrealism in Nigeria.
His legacy endures, not just through his technical mastery, but in his ability to transform the familiar into something extraordinary.
