#SacredArtOftheOri pic.twitter.com/aivNY7PFNz
— LAOLU NYC (@Afromysterics) April 23, 2016
On Saturday, Beyoncé premiered her hour-long special, LEMONADE on HBO, which was a visual journey through her latest album of the same name. In the unicolor section entitled Apathy, Beyoncé’s background dancers are seen on white body paint while riding in a metal bus and moving to the album’s fourth track, ‘Sorry.’
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The artist behind these ornate designs is the Nigerian-born, Brooklyn-based Laolu Senbanjo, who recently signed a deal with American sportswear company, Nike.
READ: Master of Air…Nike signs Nigerian visual artist Laolu Senbanjo
A video posted by Laolu (@laolunyc) on
Later on in the film, Beyoncé is also seen with a small amount of body art; white dots have been delicately placed above the curve of her eyebrows and dragged from her lower eyelid to her cheeks.
He calls his body painting artworks ‘Sacred Art of the Ori’, noting that the origin of this practice derives from a spiritual Yoruba ritual. ‘In my language, Yoruba ‘Ori’ literally means your essence, your soul, your destiny,’ Laolu explains in his artist statement.
Also See: While we wait for Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’ film on Youtube…See bits of the videos here
A photo posted by Laolu (@laolunyc) on
All this less than five years since 34-year-old Laolu left his life as a human rights attorney in Lagos to become a full-time struggling artist. The decision led him to Brooklyn, where he’s taken his Afromysterics artwork from the canvas to virtually everywhere: from shoes to jackets and even the human body.
Congrats Laolu!