While we peep the recently-published graphic biography of Malcolm X and SMH's current Africa Comics show, all while eagerly awaiting Aaron McGruder's return to The Boondocks, we can also check Nigerian graphic artist and illustrator Ghariokwu Lemi's first solo show, Political Cartoons from Nigeria at SOUTHFIRST in Brooklyn. In this show, Ghariokwu, a self-taught artist who blessed 26 album jackets for political activist and Afrobeat ambassador, Fela Kuti, brings his vivid graphics stateside. Not the first time Ghariokwu's work has been seen on U.S. shores, we remember his 13 pieces in 2003's Black President on which occasion certain MTV top brass commissioned him to make his first painting on U.S. soil.
Ghariokwu's cartoons, originally for a Nigerian audience, display political figures such as President Olusegun Obasanjo, government corruption, and good ol' American foreign policy made between 1975 and 2006. Political Cartoons from Nigeria also highlights Nigeria's evolving culture through the eyes of two young Nigerian cartoonists: Comfort Jones and Lordwealth Ololade, showcasing their views on Nigerian politics and the role of women.
Political Cartoons from Nigeria is on view at SOUTHFIRST in Brooklyn until December 17.
