Icon | Uche Okeke

Feb 2026 

Based on his close interaction with Uli, Okeke considered drawing fundamental to the creative process. Uli, as practised by Okeke’s mum, is a traditional (primarily female) art form of the Igbo people of Nigeria, characterised by freehand, curvilinear, and minimalist designs. Uli captures the essence of a line that gives form to a void. 

The works we profile in Icon | Uche Okeke are drawings and other ephemera from the late 50’s and early 60’s when Okeke started to manifest an increasing confidence in reducing reality to its core, employing the line as his ideal device.

London