The exhibition, ‘Testament of Legacy, Time and Space,’ was conceived as a celebration of every creative hand that has passed through Kunle Adeyemi Studios (KAS). It brings together both the independent voices who have since charted their own paths and those still nurtured within the walls of the renowned studio. Over the years, KAS has welcomed more than forty aspiring talents—ranging from IT students and researchers to young learners introduced by their parents for educational purposes. From this vibrant pool, twenty-five have now stepped forward, ready to exhibit their works. Their participation is not only a tribute to the studio’s enduring influence but also a powerful source of motivation, as each one responded with enthusiasm to the call to showcase their journey. Writes Ireho Aito

On October 4th, 2025, Kunle Adeyemi will stand at the heart of a landmark exhibition, joined by 25 distinguished artists whose works reflect a shared spirit of creativity and innovation. Kunle Adeyemi and the Special 25 young artists will be having a group exhibition at the prestigious National Museum Onikan in Lagos titled ‘A Testament of Legacy, Time, and Space.’ Ireho Aito for iBAND Magazine in Lagos, captures this momentous gathering. It is a story of artistry, collaboration, and the timeless dialogue between legacy, time, and space.

Kunle Adeyemi has never separated art from generosity. For decades, he has poured himself into nurturing talent, mentoring the next generation, and reminding artists that education and discipline are as vital as creativity. On October 4th, 2025, he brings this vision to life in a landmark group exhibition titled Testament of Legacy, Time and Space. The show highlights bold young artists who are unafraid to fail, experiment, and redefine expression. With works ranging from paintings to paintocasts, paintographs, prints, and mixed media, the exhibition is more than a showcase, it is a celebration of courage, mentorship, and the enduring legacy of one of Nigeria’s most respected art maestros.

He is often described as the soul of Nigeria’s visual art, gentle in spirit yet a firebrand who has seen and done it all. Kunle Adeyemi wears his faith like a second skin, never failing to put God first in his life and work.

When I stepped into his bustling studio at Ilasamaja, tucked within his private residence, the atmosphere was electric. Young artists bent over assignments and projects, their energy filling the space with promise. These are the next generation, nurtured daily under his watchful eye. But for Adeyemi, grooming talent comes with a condition; education is non-negotiable. Every mentee at Kunle Adeyemi Studios (KAS) must return to school to earn a degree or diploma.

“It’s the foundation,” he explains, easing into his office chair, after returning from his morning devotion. “I passed through it myself. And because of my experience in the academia, helping them gain admission is easier. We need to give them a proper foundation.”

Now retired from his lecturing role at Yaba College of Technology, Dr. Adeyemi has returned in full gear to the studio, where his passion for art finds new expression. Beyond creating, he continues to shape the art landscape through consulting, contributing to colloquiums, and lending his voice on television and radio such as his recent appearance on Channels TV, where he spoke on art as a secure form of investment for the future.
Retirement has been a form of blessing for master. “I keep getting opportunities more and it was like divine,” he celebrates. Everytime, invitations keep pouring in such as the ‘Nine Grandmasters Printmaking’ exhibition and ‘Lineage of Masters’ in honour of Professor Yusuf Grillo, just to mention a few. Kunle Adeyemi seems to have lost of opportunities that have come his way since his retirement as a teacher.

His journey, however, began much earlier in Ondo State, within the walls of his father’s workshop. Adeyemi’s father, a furniture maker and later a sawmill investor, ran a disciplined household where apprenticeship was a rite of passage. By the age of 11 or 12, each child was expected to join the workshop every weekend and holidays. It was there that young Kunle learned the lifelong values of hard work, diligence, integrity, and accountability principles that would later define both his art and his mentorship. He would be tasked with producing some certain furniture such as chairs, tables and more. After that he would sell what he produced and earning for himself some money. His father would collect the money and save for the children. At the end of the year, Kunle’s father would give his children what he had saved for them to buy their end of the fantasies.

Dr. Kunle Adeyemi’s mother was in the sawmilling business too. His father moved from carpentry and furniture making business into selling planks and building materials. “My father would travel down to Lagos to buy in bulk and travel back to Ondo where he resold. These paved way for precision. It takes the eye of a creative person to punch a nail. If you know how to visualise the end of a product, automatically you are a visual artist” he affirms.

It is this same spirit of discipline, faith, and generosity that Adeyemi brings to his latest project on October 4th, 2025.

The exhibition is not just about art on display; it is about courage, mentorship, and the timeless values Adeyemi has carried from his father’s workshop in Ondo to the forefront of Nigeria’s contemporary art scene.

When the exhibition Testament of Legacy, Time & Space opens on October 4th, 2025, at the National Museum, Onikan, Lagos, it will showcase the vision of Dr. Kunle Adeyemi and the creative spirit of 25 selected artists drawn from his circle of mentees and collaborators.

His influence is reflected in the mix of emerging voices who together embody resilience, experimentation, and renewal.

The participating artists are: Adeyinka Akingbade, Titi Badmus Ganiy, K. K. Olojo-Kosoko, Asholasa Daniel, Daniel Klotoe, Olusegun Oduyele, Olufemi Onagoruwa, Ojo Olaniyi, Dr. Aderinsoye Aladegbongbe, Okemakinde Abiodun, Akingbade Oluwamayowa, Taiwo Emmanuel, Oyetumoh Yusuf, Azeez Rasaq, Dayo Adeyemi, Jimoh Luqman, Kehinde Adenle, Olumuyiwa Olusola, Dr. Kafaru Abiodun, Dr. Doyin Labode, Dr. Stella Awoh Mofunayan, Olayemi Otuyelu Madu, Ajose Ayomide, and Lotachukwu Ayogu-Eze.

“When a young talent finds himself in a web full of talents. He may not readily know because of his naive mien. But people around him may discover such evolution gradually in such a young person. When I was drawing in my younger age, people normally gathered around me.
Kunle Adeyemi started drawing from primary school and by the time he got to Class 2 in Secondary School, he started drawing what is known as Visual Aid for students of Saint Helens Teacher Training College. Such students were Teachers in Training known as Teaching Practice. Visual Aid was a compulsory part of their program and Kunle was readily available. This was in the 60s and 70s era.

He maintains what we go to school to do is to show you or teach you why, where, who, what and possibly when of those things. These things are applicable from the primary levels down to research levels. “If I construct a chair for instance, there must be a reason. Okay for people to be comfortable. To make money and more instances keep exploding.”

As we were pouring our minds on the interview, the Master Curator himself, Moses Ohiomokhare walked into the studio with a warm embrace. His presence was to shoot a short documentary on a notable collector who has inspired to so many Nigerian artist. The documentary is to celebrate her six decades of constantly collecting art all over the world. This is so renowned.

How did Kunle Adeyemi arrive where he is today also came with a price. While he was in Class 3 at Secondary School, he had a passion for football. He was a good goalkeeper and this passion gave his father a lot of concern. His imposing frame between the goalposts was fiery. His father, Adebanji Adeyemi wouldn’t hear of it. His father became worried and would ride his bicycle to look for him at every football field in Ondo town. His father believed he would be useful for him and himself financially at the workshop than playing football for nothing. “He had his good intentions which was very good for me,” he recalls.

“As a child, my father spotted the spark of creativity in me,” Dr. Adeyemi shares warmly. “Instead of letting me spend all my time chasing football, he introduced me to Jimpoly Art, a popular street artist in our community. Every day after school, from 3 to 6:30 p.m., I trained in his studio. That simple decision shaped my path, grounding me in art and discipline from an early age.” It was a routine for Dr. Adeyemi from Class 3 to Class 5 till he proceeded for his ‘A’ Levels. He became a quasi skilled artist.

Kunle Adeyemi belonged to the very first set of students in his school to sit for Art in their final year examinations. Remarkably, young Adeyemi was asked to teach his classmates who had also registered for the School Certificate Examination and they all passed. His own result, though modest, marked an important milestone in his artistic journey.

Once again, young Ayomide Ajose, a member of the group set to exhibit on Saturday, presented one of his untitled works for the master’s critique. Created in charcoal, the piece carried raw energy, while Ayomide’s eager expression revealed just how much anticipation he holds for the upcoming exhibition. The work was eventually named “Gazing into the Future.”

In the 1970s, Kunle Adeyemi’s father had a cousin, Dr. Adewole, an orthopaedic doctor practising in Lagos who often visited Ondo town, where he also had a consulting office. Hoping his son would follow the same path, Kunle’s father handed him over to Dr. Adewole with the dream that he might one day become a medical doctor. But after reviewing young Kunle’s results, Dr. Adewole gently pointed out that medicine was not his calling. “Instead,” he advised, “this boy has the potential to study Art at the tertiary level.” That moment, Dr. Adeyemi recalls, became a turning point in his journey.

Kunle Adeyemi’s uncle, the medical doctor, had studied partly in the West and was well exposed to the works of Picasso and other celebrated artists. With this background, he appealed to Kunle’s father to let the young boy pursue Art courses instead of forcing a medical career, opening the door to his true passion.

Elder Moses Ohiomokhare returns once more into the studio to make some remarks and give updates about the shirt documentary. Kunle Adeyemi and Moses Ohiomokhare also stepped into a new phase of their creative journey, one that stretches far beyond the canvas. They are passionate about teaching young people that art is not only a form of self-expression but also a path to financial security and a safeguard for the future. To them, creativity should be nurtured with foresight, preparing for the “rainy day.”

By encouraging the younger generation to see their talent as both a passion and a viable livelihood, they are planting seeds of empowerment that can grow into independence and stability. This vision underscores the importance of the forthcoming exhibition, it is more than just a showcase of artworks, it is a platform for shaping futures and unlocking opportunities.

As Adeyemi stresses, “catching them young is vital and not just to refine their skills, but to help them dream of owning a roof over their heads, building sustainable lives, and learning to invest wisely.”

Dr. Kunle Adeyemi remains deeply grateful to his father for the path he allowed him to follow. His father not only encouraged him to apprentice under his guidance but also enrolled him at Jimpoly Art for formal training. Beyond that, he invested in his son’s dream, purchasing art materials that gave young Kunle the tools to explore and grow his talent. Unknowingly for the father, he did not know he was setting his son on the right path to freedom.

At first, Kunle Adeyemi thought he would end up as a lawyer. He was studying Government, English Law, and Economics in Ilesa, Osun State, when one day a newspaper advert caught his eye. The advert was from the Nigerian School of Printing and Graphic Art. Curious, he applied and soon found himself in Lagos studying graphics. And as he later discovered, studying graphics automatically meant diving into printing too

But Kunle’s love for colours and creativity didn’t stop there. He went on to Yaba College of Technology, where he took up General Art in 1979 at the Ordinary National Diploma level, a decision that would firmly set him on the path of art. Kunle Adeyemi didn’t stop at his Ordinary National Diploma. He went further, studying Painting at the Higher National Diploma level, and soon after secured admission for his Master’s programme at the University of Benin under the guidance of the revered Professor Wangboje.

In 2000, he returned to Yaba College of Technology, this time not as a student but as a lecturer in Painting. Over the years, he rose through the ranks, first as Head of Department and later as Dean of School.

Yet, despite his busy academic career, Adeyemi never abandoned the studio. He continued to create, showcasing his works in both solo and group exhibitions. To this day, he remains a practicing artist, balancing teaching with the passion that first inspired his journey.

In 1989, Kunle Adeyemi enjoyed a six-month residency in New York, a blissful and unforgettable experience that became a turning point in his career. Looking back, he says education remains the strongest foundation for success. “I took it upon myself to guide young minds so they don’t go astray,” he explains.

For him, preparation is everything. “When you prepare well, opportunities will surely come,” he insists, often reminding young artists that while trends come and go, having a clear purpose is what truly sustains a career.

A versatile artist, Adeyemi is skilled in printmaking, painting, and sculpture. Yet, his studio is more than just a workspace, it’s a hub for mentorship. “My studio never lacks young people,” he says with pride. “I welcome them, nurture their growth, and give them opportunities to shine. They love their work so much that sometimes they go round the clock.”

Deeply rooted in community, Adeyemi has also contributed beyond the canvas. He edited the autobiography of the revered Dr. Kolade Osinowo and believes that training and raising credible partners is the key to going far in life and career.

The exhibition, Testament of Legacy, Time and Space, was conceived as a celebration of every creative hand that has passed through Kunle Adeyemi Studios (KAS). It brings together both the independent voices who have since charted their own paths and those still nurtured within the walls of the renowned studio. Over the years, KAS has welcomed more than forty aspiring talents, ranging from IT students and researchers to young learners introduced by their parents for educational purposes. From this vibrant pool, twenty-five have now stepped forward, ready to exhibit their works. Their participation is not only a tribute to the studio’s enduring influence but also a powerful source of motivation, as each one responded with enthusiasm to the call to showcase their journey.
Beyond the Grandmaster himself, Kunle Adeyemi, who may be exhibiting five works, each of the participating artists will present two pieces, creating a rich tapestry of voices and visions. The exhibition is being thoughtfully curated by Dr. Bukola Jayesinmi, whose eye for detail and depth adds further weight to the showcase.

For Dr. Adeyemi, art is more than practice, it is discipline, faith, and purpose. He emphasizes integrity, hard work, and determination as the pillars of success. “You must be dutiful. You must live the work, reflect the work, embody the work,” he insists. Yet, above all, he highlights the divine: success is not only by strength or speed, but by God’s mercy.

He further underscores that consistency and innovation are vital to thriving in the creative space. Sensitivity to one’s environment, compassion in practice, and a human-centered approach must shape an artist’s journey. “Money should never be the first thing,” the Grandmaster reminds—pointing instead to passion, purpose, and resilience as the true drivers of excellence.

Testament of Legacy, Time and Space opens on the 4th of October 2025 at the National Museum Onikan in Lagos.

Words Ireho Aito/Don’t Keep Your Art in the Finger!