2017.44
Shapes in the Sky During Rainy Season
Artist
Twins Seven-Seven
Title
Shapes in the Sky During Rainy Season
Creation Date
1974
Century
late 20th century
Dimensions
35 x 33 3/4 in. (88.9 x 85.73 cm)
Object Type
painting
Creation Place
West Africa, Nigeria
Medium and Support
mixed media on denim
Credit Line
Museum Purchase, Lloyd O. and Marjorie Strong Coulter Fund
Copyright
This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s
Copyright Terms and Conditions.
Accession Number
2017.44
Thanks to his many contributions to international exhibitions, the Nigerian painter, printmaker, and musician Twins Seven-Seven was one of the best-known African artists of his generation. Trained at the Mbari Mbayo workshop, founded by Ulli and Georgina Beier in Oshogbo in 1964, he created contemporary responses to Yoruba myths. His reputation grew quickly, and in 1972 and again in 1974 he visited the Haystack Mountain Crafts School on Deer Isle, Maine. This painting coincides with that second visit. An attempt to immigrate in the late 1980s to the United States did not offer the career opportunities Twins had anticipated, so he returned to Nigeria, where he was honored with chieftaincy titles and, in 2005, was named a UNESCO Artist for Peace.