Nigerian contemporary artist Samson Kolawole Oluwadare, professionally known as Olu Samson, has emerged winner of the TAAG Art Competition 2026, A Space Called Rest, taking the competition’s ₦3 million grand prize for his painting, Emerald Reverie.
TAAG Gallery, also known as Tribes Art Africa Gallery, announced the winners on Wednesday, September 30, following the final evaluation by a jury drawn from different professional and cultural backgrounds.
Samuel Inalegwu finished second with Love & Affection, receiving ₦1 million, while Moses Bamba’s Lullaby in Veils secured third place and a ₦750,000 prize. Pasted markdown
Oluwadare finished with 18 points under the competition’s weighted voting system, ahead of Inalegwu with 15 points and Bamba with 10.
Olu Samson’s Journey Through Colour and Portraiture
Olu Samson is a contemporary Nigerian artist from Ondo State whose practice centres on colour, portraiture and expressionist interpretations of the human form.
Working mainly with oil and acrylic, the artist has developed a visual approach in which colour, hair, texture and figurative elements interact to explore identity, emotion and human presence.
One of the defining features of his practice is his extensive experimentation with colour.
Samson combines more than 25 oil pigments to develop complex colour relationships, using variations in tone, saturation and contrast to create depth and movement across the picture plane.
Hair also occupies an important position within his work.
Rather than functioning simply as a physical feature of his subjects, its contours and textures can develop into intricate figurative forms, allowing portraiture to move beyond physical resemblance towards psychological and symbolic expression.
His first-place finish in A Space Called Rest represents recognition of that evolving artistic language.
The winning work, Emerald Reverie, earned the highest aggregate score from the competition’s jurors. Pasted markdown
Emerald Reverie, 2026
Oil on canvas
48 × 36 in | 121.9 × 91.4 cm
Exploring What It Means to Rest
The 2026 competition was built around a deceptively simple question: what does it actually mean to have a space in which a person can retreat, dream, reconnect, heal, love, remember and simply exist?
Rather than treating rest purely as sleep, participating artists explored the theme through romantic intimacy, solitude, domestic rituals, nature, memory, music, spirituality, psychological safety and renewal. Pasted markdown Pasted markdown
The diversity of interpretations was reflected in the jury’s choices.
Among the jurors was Director-General of the National Council for Arts and Culture, Obi Asika, whose selections were influenced by themes including hope, African identity, dignity and strength.
Asika selected Kingsley Oghenekaro Omodigono’s Brand New Day as his first choice, interpreting the composition as an expression of optimism, renewal and possibility. Pasted markdown
Other jurors approached the works from different perspectives.
Art collector and cultural ambassador Joy Tagboto considered how the artworks might function within an adult bedroom, while physician and author Dr Monique Nugent highlighted the peaceful atmosphere created by Bamba’s Lullaby in Veils. Pasted markdown
Visual artist and educator Abiola Idowu based his assessment on factors including purpose, vision, composition, technical execution, craftsmanship and visual impact. Pasted markdown
No Single Definition of Rest
TAAG Gallery Founder and Head Curator Rodney Asikhia said the range of responses demonstrated one of the central ideas behind the exhibition — that art does not need to communicate the same experience to every viewer.
According to the curator, participating artists took the concept beyond the physical bedroom, producing interpretations encompassing intimacy, memory, courage, solitude, nature, contemplation, love and hope. Pasted markdown
For Olu Samson, winning the competition adds another milestone to a practice that combines technical precision with expressive experimentation.
His work also contributes to a broader contemporary African figurative tradition in which portraiture increasingly serves not only as representation, but as a vehicle for examining identity, memory and emotional experience.
