Twins Seven Seven, born Omoba Taiwo Olaniyi Oyewale-Toyeje Oyelale Osuntoki (3 May 1944 – 16 June 2011) was a Nigerian painter, sculptor and musician. He was an itinerant singer and dancer before he began his career as an artist, first attending in 1964 an Mbari Mbayo workshop conducted by Ulli Beier and Georgina Beier in Osogbo. Twins Seven Seven went on to become one of the best known artists of the Osogbo School.
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The palm wine tapper's family
Twins Seven Seven's work is influenced by traditional Yoruba mythology and culture, and creates a fantastic universe of humans, animals, plants and Yoruba gods. Visually, his work resembles Yoruba carvings in the segmentation, division and repetition of his compositions; conceptually, it reflects this influence in the emphasis on transformation and balance, as well as its embodiment of dualities such as the earthly and the spiritual, past and present, industry and agriculture. Early works such as Dreams of the Abiku Child (1967) make allusion to concepts or figures in Yoruba cosmology and mythology, such as the abiku (devil child), and the orisha Osun. However, Twins Seven Seven also described his work as "contemporary Yoruba traditional art", not only paying homage to the influence of his cultural background but also to noting his responsiveness to current events and the postcolonial experience.
Some of his early work was influenced by his reading a copy of Amos Tutuola's book My Life in the Bush of Ghosts that was gifted to him by Georgina Beier. However, as he progressed as an artist, Twins Seven Seven focused more on imagery based on Yoruba folklore and his own dreams.
He attempted to avoid exposing himself to other painters who could potentially influence his unique individual painting style. Upon his first visit to the United States, he refused to attend a Picasso show, stating: "No, I don't want to risk being influenced by anyone else. All I am doing is in me already. I am not going to sit down in a studio and learn to mix colors like an European painter."
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He was in line to become King of Ibadan upon which he would be named Osuntoki II. However, he first had to become the head of his clan, Mogaji. When the old Mogaji died, Twins Seven Seven was elected by his family to take his place, but the coronation kept being pushed back, and he died before he could assume this position.
Twins Seven-Seven spent much of the last 15 years of his life living and working in Philadelphia. In 2005 he was named UNESCO Artist for Peace in an award ceremony in Paris. His work is included in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institution and other major international collections. In 2010 he was the subject of an exhaustive monograph and biography, Prince Twins Seven-Seven: His Art, His Life in Nigeria, His Exile in America, by Henry Glassie. A talented musician, he continued to perform throughout his career. Several of his early recordings have recently been reissued.
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