Princes Kadija (Part 1 of 3) - 2009

33 x 24,2 cm
Cartoon strip made up of 20 color plates
Colored pencil, watercolor, felt pen and black ink on cardboard

Princes Kadija (Part 1 of 3) - 2009

33 x 24,2 cm
Cartoon strip made up of 20 color plates
Colored pencil, watercolor, felt pen and black ink on cardboard

Princes Kadija (Part 1 of 3) - 2009

33 x 24,2 cm
Cartoon strip made up of 20 color plates
Colored pencil, watercolor, felt pen and black ink on cardboard

Princes Kadija (Part 1 of 3) - 2009

33 x 24,2 cm
Cartoon strip made up of 20 color plates
Colored pencil, watercolor,felt pen and black ink on cardboard

Princes Kadija (Part 1 of 3) - 2009

33 x 24,2 cm
Cartoon strip made up of 20 color plates
Colored pencil, watercolor, felt pen and black ink on cardboard

Joshua Okoromodeke

Joshua Okoromodeke grew up in a family of artists but he is the only one to have brought this family 'tradition' to what he sees as the ultimate purpose of design: the comic strip. He said in effect that in this art, imagination, language and painting come together.

As a child he discovered Western comics through old Comic Books which have inspired his technique and narrative. Stan Lee and John Byne, Marvel and Dino are his main influences. Joshua takes care of all aspects of Comic Book development: writer, illustrator, inker, letterer and colorist.

He reinvents the genre of the superhero comics not by drawing his characters in body suits and capes but by making his protagonists fallible and imperfect. He is inspired by the diversity of African cultures and more specifically that of Nigeria. His ideas come from African themes and analogies. He shows the difficulties that Nigerians are facing, especially the ever growing injustices and poverty that lead people to suffer and sometimes to madness. His superheros and many secondary characters revolt against the escalation of corruption that infects all walks of society. His heroes become emotional. The succession of spectacular panels in vibrant color literally animate these heroes and characters, who reflect the humanity and idealism of the author. The action, adventure and humor of his comic books make the realities and difficulties of his country known to the reader and encourage the world to help Africa.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2014

Ici l’Afrique/Here Africa - L’Afrique contemporaine à travers le regard de ses artistes, Musée des Suisses dans le Monde,Château de Penthes, Pregny-Chambésy, Switzerland

2009 - 2010

Nov. 2009 - Jan. 2010

Africa? Una nuova storia

Complesso del Vittoriano, Rome, Italy