Artist Anthony Azekwoh kicks off the new year with a bang as he announces
that the centrepiece painting from his viral The Wedding collection has been acquired by Tunji
Balogun,CEO of Def Jam Recordings.
With this purchase, the Def Jam CEO joins the fast-growing list of high-profile collectors of
Azekwoh’s work, which includes Cynthia Erivo (Emmy, Grammy, and Tony winner; and star of
Wicked), Grammy-winning producer JAE5, and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the
World Trade Organization, among others.
The acquisition follows a characteristically packed year for the artist, whose latest collection The
Wedding became one of the defining events of the Nigerian Art Calendar.: amassing more than
50 million impressions across social media in four months, sparking a viral fan-driven
competition centered on theories about the characters in the series, and stitching itself into the
cultural zeitgeist. It culminated in, his sixth solo exhibition, which spanned across a week
December and further cemented his reputation as a master world-builder. (The exhibition’s
invitation, written in the style of an actual wedding announcement, was published on BellaNaija.)
Azekwoh’s trajectory has been marked by institutional recognition alongside commercial
success. His 2023 work No Victor No Vanquished entered the Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art’s
permanent collection as its first digital painting acquisition. His collector base spans
entertainment, finance, and global policy leadership.
Tunji Balogun’s purchase underscores Anthony Azekwoh’s rapidly accelerating position as a
premier African artist and tastemaker in the global contemporary art market.
Azekwoh is an author, painter and sculptor, who rose to prominence in 2020 when his digital
painting The Red Man went viral, breaking the internet and igniting conversations about a new
wave of African art. The piece later sold for $25,000, cementing his position as one of the
continent’s leading artists. Just one year later Azekwoh’s lifetime sales surpassed $200,000. He
continues to weave traditional references and themes with modern techniques to create
stunning pieces which challenge audiences to think and feel alike.
