For the legendary artist and culture ambassador, Prince Yinka Adeyemi, it is imperative to celebrate African culture and tell the Yoruba stories that healing is derived from worship of Olodumare, God, the orisha and the ancestors.

Addressing journalists on his forthcoming exhibition at The Art Hotel Lagos, the octogenarian said, “I tell stories with my work. I paint, I print, I work in batik and textiles. I draw inspiration from people, from places, from my travels to museums and galleries around the world. Metamorphosis is all of that put together many things in one. My interest is to let people know that Africa is great.” Curatorial Director Moses Ohiomokhare recalled Adeyemi’s father was a master of beaded crown making.

To him, his creative journey spanned painting, carving, mosaic, murals using cowries and pottery shreds, as well as performance arts. Saying he once appeared in Kongi’s Harvest by Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka, he added Adeyemi is widely recognised as the originator of Batik on rice paper technique.

Ohiomokhare added, ‘his works are marked by geometric patterns, symbolic motifs, and vivid dyes, particularly strong reds, yellows and magentas, which set his style apart. Each batik tells a story rooted in Yoruba cosmology exploring themes such as, fertility, protection, agriculture, prosperity and the sacred Osun Osogbo groove. In the early 1980’s, he exhibited at Quintessence Gallery alongside Oshogbo masters like Adeku, Twins Seven Seven, and Rufus Ogundele. He later showcased his works abroad, exhibiting in the United States with artists such as Twins Seven Seven, Z.K Oloruntoba, and Jimoh Buraimoh. We are honoured to welcome Pa Adeyinka to Art Hotel for this much anticipated exhibition.’

Speaking in a similar vein, art collector and founder Mind of the Masters Creative Gallery Limited, Larry Segun-Lean, observed Adeyemi’s works are quintessentially African that tells stories in raw form, without embellishment.

Segun-Lean, who has collected Adeyemi’s works for over three decades, noted, “his works remind us that Africa’s creative civilization predates much of what the West claims to have pioneered. He turned 80 on the 4th of August 2025. It is a commemorative exhibition to celebrate a global icon that has impacted the art space worldwide, not just in Africa. We want the world to know he is back home in Nigeria, where it all started. This is iconic, and it is too important to ignore.”

On his part, Mudaire Onabrakpeya described Metamorphosis as more than a look back, but a bold affirmation of continuity, resilience, and renewal. After decades abroad, he said, “Adeyemi’s return to the Lagos art scene is not merely a homecoming; it is reawakening. His journey from Iragbiji to Osogbo, Lagos to the united states and back-tells a story of an artist whose vision has only deepened with time and distance, and whose hand remains assure and inspired as ever. This exhibition calls for dialogue. A dialogue not just with the work, but with the imagination that shaped it. It reminds us that mastery is not a final point, but a lifelong process. It is forged through discipline, natured by tradition, tested by time, and refined in the crucible of re invention.”

The show opens on September 13 to September 28, 2025 at The Art Hotel Lagos.