As of: February 24, 2024, 12:00 p.m
By: Alexandra Anderka
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Diversity is a trademark of Ifeanyi Okolo's art - with one thing in common: people are in the foreground, both in the colorful pictures (picture above), which are made using a mixed media of oil, acrylic and watercolor, as well as in his wooden sculptures.
© Alexandra Anderka
Wartenberg - Ifeanyi Okolo is a sculptor, painter and drummer.
He works in a studio in Wartenberg and, thanks to his “sponsors,” can make a living from his art.
Wartenberg – Ifeanyi Okolo’s art is about people, their feelings and thoughts, fears, joy and love – and it is diverse.
The 57-year-old expresses himself as a sculptor, painter, potter and drummer.
“Depending on where I can best represent what is currently bothering me, I use it.
“I don’t want to limit myself,” he explains.
Evidence of all this can be found in his studio in Wartenberg.
The longing for closeness was his big theme during the pandemic, which is why there are a number of larger-than-life wooden sculptures in the Paulini family's garden in Wartenberg that symbolize an intimate embrace - in pairs, but often also in groups of three or as a family.
As he himself says, Okolo is lucky to have met two families through his art who support him.
In addition to the Paulinis in Wartenberg, there is the Stanglmeier family in Zeilhof near Nandlstadt.
“My sponsors, I am so grateful,” says the 57-year-old, who comes from Nigeria, in good German.
“So I can devote myself entirely to my art.” And he is quite successful with it.
The regular sale of pictures and wooden sculptures, combined with drumming courses, enables him to live from his calling.
His art has also received awards, including the Freising District Recognition Culture Prize.
Okolo grew up in Owerezukalla in southeastern Nigeria as the first of seven children.
He got the artistic gene from birth.
His father was a talented tailor and once led a dance group.
“My grandmother was a famous potter,” he says.
Making pottery for everyday utensils such as kitchenware was a typical occupation for women at the time.
His grandmother's name is still known in this context to this day.
But his father's wish was that the firstborn study law.
Even back then, Ifeanyi Okolo knew that it wasn't for him, and today he believes: "If I had become a lawyer, I would no longer be alive.
I can see no injustice and I would definitely have stood up for human rights.” He prevailed and studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts with a focus on sculpture in Enugu.
However, it was all very theoretical.
He learned a lot about Western art from antiquity to classical modernism, which made him curious.
He felt the desire to marvel at the original works of the famous artists.
According to Ifeanyi Okolo, everyone has rhythm in their blood from birth.
His drum sessions are said to have a healing effect © Alexandra Anderka
So he set off for Europe via a two-year stint in Switzerland.
He arrived in Berlin in 1996.
At first he wandered through the many museums and supported himself with odd jobs.
After four years he ended up in Bavaria, where he initially established himself in Freising.
He worked at the airport and was able to create a base that allowed him to devote himself to his own art.
He is now known beyond the district borders.
Since 2008 he has regularly exhibited solo or with other artists.
He is currently preparing an exhibition for the State Library in Munich-Laim under the title “Myths, Fantasy and Reality”, for which Munich's former mayor Christian Ude is acting as patron.
He is proud that he was able to prove to his father that his art is not a waste of money.
“We have reconciled,” he says of the man who has since died.
He is the father of two adult children; his daughter lives with her mother in Nigeria and his son in Regensburg.
“We are a blended family.”
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Okolo's art isn't just for looking at, he wants it to have a place somewhere.
That's why his prices are negotiable.
The viewer is also allowed to touch his sculptures made from local fruit trees, oak, linden and teak.
The finely polished woods feel very gentle and soft.
He has already asked blind people to feel his art.
No trees have to die for Okolo's works.
“I often help out in the forest and sometimes I discover suitable pieces for myself.”
The pigs that the artist is currently making out of wood mean happiness © Alexandra Anderka
The people of Erding also know Okolo from Sinnflut: he has been enriching the festival with his drum sessions since the beginning.
The musician is convinced that everyone has rhythm in their blood; you just have to think about your own heartbeat.
His culture was his teacher - he learned from his elders during initiation rites.
He also wants to pass on drumming in his workshops.
“I'm always practicing.” That's why he doesn't have a beginner or advanced course.
“The advanced ones are already in heaven, you learn all your life,” is how he describes his drumming philosophy.
Okolo is convinced of the healing effects of drumming: “I have seen people fall asleep to this noise, the rhythm had such a calming effect on them.”
Under the influence of the pandemic and its consequences, Okolo has been particularly concerned with depictions of hugs in his woodwork in recent years, which symbolize togetherness, comfort, healing, peace and happiness.
That's why he now has a new hobbyhorse, or rather piggy.
He creates wooden pigs – in different sizes.
The African-born man is a positive person and says: “We were lucky again – and in German they also say, 'We had a pig.'”
Social media
Ifeanyi Okolo can be found on Instagram and YouTube at Trappokolo okolo.