Dayo Laoye

Adedayo was born to the royal family of Oba Adetoyese Laoye, The Timi of Ede. This famous Yoruba King toured throughout Europe in the 1960’s with the traditional Yoruba talking drum and instilled in Dayo a strong belief and conviction for this culture and traditional values. With the support of his parents, Dayo was able to spend his childhood pursuing his strong interest in art and drawing. He has this memory of his youth in Nigeria, and I can remember vividly drawing things that I saw on T.V. such as the Flintstones, Cowboys and Indians on horseback, and of course soldiers in their uniforms. While my friends in the neighborhood rode bicycles or played ball, I was always sitting in a corner drawing. Although this made me a “good boy” to my parents, it affected my sports and leisure life and how I related with my other young friends.

Dayo later worked on portraiture using as subjects his fellow students, teachers, and special guest to the school. A graduate of School of Fine Art, Yaba College of Technology, he worked for the Nigerian Television Authority, various advertising agencies as a graphic artist and two national newspapers as a political cartoonist. In 1988 while studying at Howard University, Washington, D.C., he became acquainted with contemporary African-American art and its search for a link with the past. It was during this time that Dayo began to explore the very meaning of the tradition in which he was born. Much of Dayo’s work, therefore reflects his Yoruba tradition.
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He is currently working on a series of paintings – The People’s Choice – inspired by the political process going on in America today. Also, he is working on a series of paintings – Negritude – celebrating the diversity of beauty in the African-American culture.

Dayo has been exhibiting for the last 25 years. He has a studio on Chicago’s south side