LEADERSHIP Artist of the Year 2025: Kanyenyachukwu Tagbo Okeke

On April 2, 2025, Kanye, a 15-year-old autistic art prodigy, unveiled his painting titled “Impossibility Is A Myth” at the Eagle Square, Abuja. The 12, 303.87 square metre artwork, featuring an infinity symbol (the symbol of autism) surrounded by multi-coloured smiley emojis, broke the GWR of largest canvas painting by an individual held by an Iranian, Emad Salehi.

Born November 17, 2009, Kanye was diagnosed with autism at a very young age. His parents Tagbo and Sylvia Tagbo-Okeke sought several activities to occupy his hyperactive nature. They tried soccer and swimming, neither of which piqued his interest. That was until someone recommended the arts; they enrolled him with an arts teacher, and eventually with artiste and fashion designer Kokab Faroukh, who discovered his talent for painting and offered to mentor him. He was four years at the time.

Since then, Kanye has been painting. He would graduate from his initial 4 x 4 canvas to large-scale canvasses. At age 8, he became the youngest recipient of Austria’s Flame of Peace Award in 2018 for spreading peace through his art. His paintings are a vibrant display of earthy and vivid colours often featuring central abstract shapes and expressive strokes. His art is not learnt, rather art gave him the focus and tool to express what lay within.

In March 2019, he held his first charity exhibition at Our Lady of Guadalupe Center for Children with Special Needs, Abuja, where he displayed his works alongside those of other children with special needs to raise awareness for autism. The charity auction would go on to become an annual event organized by his foundation, the Kanye Autism Foundation. Proceeds raised from his works (which command a price range of N300,000 to N10m) are donated towards the provision of free therapy sessions for children with disabilities, who are either adopted or living at orphanages, and for those whose parents cannot afford the quite expensive treatment. Proceeds from Kanye’s Guinness World Record feat also went to Zeebah Foundation, a Nigerian-based non-profit focused on providing support to people on the autism spectrum and their families.

To understand the importance and impact of Kanye’s art, one has to understand autism. Autism is a neuro-developmental disorder that affects a person’s social and communication abilities. Reports indicate that one in a hundred people in the UK are autistic, while one in 59 children in the US are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It is a spectrum disorder because the degree to which a person is impaired ranges from low support needs to high support needs. Those on high-support needs are generally not able to work, may not be able to take care of themselves, and require a lot of assistance. Whereas those with low support needs (aka Asperger’s Syndrome) may be able to live independently, they may still have trouble with social interaction. People in the autism spectrum have certain behavioural and communication symptoms. Some have spoken language, others are non-verbal. Those with spoken language might find it difficult to hold conversations like every other person, and have trouble understanding the concept of small talk, jokes or sarcasm. Some persons with autism may have difficulty with sensory experiences such as sounds, textures, smell or touch. The smallest sound or crash can aggravate them especially in unfamiliar environments. They may often require care and support in learning, communication and physiotherapy.

Kanye falls within the high needs spectrum. Thus, once his parents discovered his love for the arts, they had to carry around canvas and painting materials wherever they went, so Kanye could paint at any time, even at night.

Not many Nigerian parents understand or are even aware that their children are autistic. Consequently, some are either ashamed of their autistic children and keep them locked up at home, or they isolate them from people for fear of their children being stigmatized.

The blame can’t be placed entirely on the parents/guardians of people with autism, as the Nigerian society — from the education to health institutions — lack inclusive facilities and services for persons living with autism or other disorders. Thus, a huge brunt of the work lies on the shoulders of parents, of which the less privileged ones cannot afford.

Kanye stands out as a symbol against the stigmatization of persons with disabilities, and the hope that there is ability in any disability. He represents the importance of art as a tool for therapy and for the development of a child’s mind. He shows that nothing is impossible, and that obstacles are challenges to be surmounted with love, the right care and support. Through his art, he is providing free diagnosis and treatment for children like him whose parents cannot afford it.

By November 2019, he held his first solo exhibition titled “Impossibility Is A Myth” at Terra Kulture Art Gallery, Lagos. In 2023, his works were exhibited alongside that of multimedia master artist Bruce Onobrakpeya, who adopted him as a mentee, at the Orisun gallery in Abuja. His works were also exhibited at the POP-UP Africa Museum, and at the Museum of Young Art (MOYA), both in Vienna, Austria, in the year 2018.

Beyond the presentation of his works at the UNICEF Headquarters in New York in 2021, they are currently in the collections of the OPEC Fund for International Development, the Nigerian Embassy in Vienna, Austria, the National Gallery of Art (NGA), the Ministry of Women Affairs, Transcorp Hilton Hotel as well as several embassies in Nigeria.