September 08, 2021
Artist Dayo Laoye to present lecture Thursday
CARBONDALE, Ill. – Artist Dayo Laoye will present a lecture on Thursday, Sept. 9 at Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Morris Library John C. Guyon Auditorium.
The free lecture begins at 7 p.m. and is open to the public. SIU is committed to protecting the community, so all those attending the lecture must wear masks and follow current campus and state pandemic safety protocols. The lecture is part of the university’s Visiting Artist Program and sponsored by the School of Art and Design.
Laoye, who lives in Chicago, is a Nigerian-born artist educated in African and American academic institutions including contemporary African America art, according to his artist statement. Laoye has been exhibiting his works for more than 25 years.
He is a graduate of the School of Fine Art, Yaba College of Technology and worked for the Nigerian Television Authority, various advertising agencies as a graphic artist and two national newspapers as a political cartoonist.
Laoye’s professional career, according to his artist statement, “has inspired art communities and broader communities to partake in discussions on Yoruba culture and religion, and to use these discussions as a doorway to their global communities.”
Laoye is working on a series of paintings – The People’s Choice – inspired by the nation’s political process and another series of paintings – Negritude – that celebrate the diversity of beauty in the African American culture.