The Dance

Name: The Dance
Brand: Raknida
Price: 45.0 USD
Availability: InStock

Adeyemo Ekundayo

Digital illustration of three dancers in red, teal and cream patterned bodysuits with white sashes, pale tiered fringe on the legs and blue blooms with plumes in their hair; one raises an arm.

$45.00 – $110.00

Three dancers in red, teal and cream patterned bodysuits and tiers of pale fringe, one arm raised high, caught at the peak of a move.

The Dance is a Studio Edition: 20 museum-quality art prints in each size, each numbered in its white border. Every artwork comes with its Cultural Passport.

The Cultural Passport

Every order comes with the heritage documented.

Digital, emailed when your order ships: the work's story, the tradition it draws on and how it was made. 5 × 7 in (13 × 18 cm), ready to print and frame beside the work.

How it works →

In Nigeria, a celebration has not truly begun until someone dances. Adeyemo Ekundayo catches three dancers at its height, the instant before the music moves them on: one arm flung high, two others with a hand on the hip, blue blooms, and plumes at their crowns. He leaves their faces as soft pencil and spends his care on the costume, because here the costume is part of the dance, and the fringe is still swinging. Brick red, teal and cream, the patterns are painted as carefully as a costume maker would cut them, because every occasion deserves its finery. He dated it ’22.

The culture · Nigeria, West Africa. Across Nigeria’s many peoples, dance marks almost every occasion, from naming ceremonies to weddings and festivals, and the costume is part of the performance.

Motifs in this work

Raised arm: the peak of the movement, held

Tiered pale fringe: motion carried in the costume

Blue blooms and plumes: a crown for each dancer

Edition: Edition of 20 in each size · 60 across all sizes. Further runs possible once a size sells out, each tagged (Run 2). Edition numbers count the works sold through Raknida; the artist may also sell their own editions of this work.
Numbering: Number, title and artist printed in the white border.
Printing: Museum-quality giclée with archival pigment inks on museum-grade cotton fine art paper.
Year: 2022
Includes: Your numbered artwork and its Cultural Passport.

Size	Sheet	Image	Museum-Quality Print only	Framed	Available
S	8 × 10 in	6½ × 7¾ in	$45	+$65	20
M	16 × 20 in	14 × 16¾ in	$75	+$119	20
L	24 × 30 in	22 × 26½ in	$110	+$179	20

The artist

Adeyemo Ekundayo

Yoruba · Lagos, Nigeria · 5 works on Raknida

Adeyemo Ekundayo is a multidisciplinary contemporary artist based in Lagos, Nigeria, whose practice explores the metaphysical, political structures and fashion. Working in acrylic, oil, charcoal and digital media, he uses an expressive visual language, rooted in expressionism, of bold gestures, layered imagery and symbolism. Fashion is his way into identity and society; spirituality is his frame for what lies beyond ordinary perception. At the core of his practice is the belief that there is more to life than what we see. On Raknida, his figures are left in pencil while the clothes are painted in full.

View full profile →All 5 works →