Artist Biography.
Abraham Babajide Cole is a Nigerian artist working across painting, drawings, illustration, and digital design. He draws inspiration from nature, antiques, and the magic of blending multiple visual forms in engaging with conversations around migration, politics and the human condition.
In October 2022, he presented his first solo exhibition, “Deep Introspection,” at ArtRooms Gallery, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
As part of the Mayor of London’s Untold Stories Project 2024, Cole was part of The Culture Tree’s artistic team that designed and created a monumental public art piece on the Yoruba Cultural Heritage supporting inclusion and diversity in Peckham, London for the Southwark City Council as a International Black Artist.
In April 2024, Cole exhibited 12 drawings inspired by Biblical and Quranic narratives as part of the exhibition, “Suns of Egypt,” at Blank Wall Gallery, Athens, Greece. For this project, he continues his exploration of the self, and the subject of migration through portraiture.
Cole is a graduate of the Yaba College of Technology School of Art, Lagos, Nigeria and he has worked as an art director for communication agencies and in cultural spaces across Nigeria before transitioning into a full time studio artist in 2020.
CV
Born in 1984. Lagos, Nigeria.
Resides and work in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
EDUCATION
2012 Art Design, Yaba College of Technology, Lagos- Nigeria.
2007 Fine Art, Yaba College of Technology, Lagos- Nigeria.
UPCOMING EXHIBITION
2025 ORT Gallery Group Diversity Exhibition. Birmingham, UK
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 Injinle Ara - The Depth of Self, Omeka Gallery, Lagos, Nigeria
2024 Suns of Egypt. Blank Wall Gallery, Athens, Greece.
2022 Deep Introspection, ArtRooms Gallery, Kings Heath, Birmingham, UK
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Nook Gallery Yellow Group Exhibition. Nook Gallery, Kings Heat, Birmingham, UK
2025 ORT Gallery Members Exhibition. Stryx Art Gallery, Birmingham, UK
2024 Holy Art Group Exhibition ETHERAL. Shacklewell Lane London, United Kingdom
2023 United Artist of South Birmingham Group View. Mosley Exchange Hall, Birmingham, UK
2023 EBAY Black History Month Creative Art Show. Richmond, London, United Kingdom
2022 Arter Barter. Kings Heath Art Exhibition. Birmingham, UK
2022 ORT Gallery Members Exhibition. ORT Gallery Mosley Art Museum Birmingham, UK
2020 Back to School Orphanage Fund raising Exhibition, Lagos, Nigeria.
PROJECT/ WORKSHOPS/ PUBLICATIONS
2025 The Welcome Family Art Workshop, Mosley, ORT Gallery Mosley Art Museum Birmingham, UK
2024 The Yoruba Heritage Installation Art at London, Peckham, Southwark City Council Square, UK
2020 Jury New York Festival Award, USA
2024 The Southwark City Newspaper feature on Yoruba Heritage Installation Art at London, UK
2022 Featured in the Monthly Mosley Art Magazine, UK
2020 Creative Art Personality of the Year Publication in the Marketing Edge Creative Art Sector Magazine. Lagos- Nigeria
AWARDS
2020 Creative Art Personality of the Year. Lagos- Nigeria
2020 Social Impact Category in Design, Bronze Medal at the African Crystal Festival Award Marrakesh, Morocco.