Sanjo Lawal

Art that is unapologetically cultured.

There’s a firmness to Sanjo Lawal’s work. It doesn’t lean toward you. It doesn’t try to be inviting. The images hold their ground.

Color is deliberate. Almost stubborn. Not pretty for the sake of it. It feels remembered. Light is used like a decision, not an effect. Some things are shown clearly. Others are withheld. That line is intentional. The work doesn’t explain culture. It assumes it.

Color shows up boldly, but never carelessly. It’s not decoration. It feels chosen. Like memory pulled forward. Light is controlled, sometimes almost strict. It decides what you’re allowed to see and what you’re not. That control is felt immediately.

Then you find out a lot of it was shot on an iPhone. And suddenly the work becomes even more annoying in the best way. No excuses. No gear to hide behind. Just skill. Just seeing. A reminder that equipment has never been the barrier people pretend it is.

In a time where images are built to shout and sell themselves, this work does neither. It waits. If you stay, it opens up. If you don’t, it moves on.

That quiet refusal to impress is exactly what gives it weight. What intrigues us the most is how he tells stories with colors, the interesting part however is we all have different interpretations.

It's impossibe to come across a Sanjo Lawal piece and be indifferent. Even if you don't understand the emotion you feel, you will feel something.

*Artworks on this page are by Sanjo Lawal. All rights remain with the artist.

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