MAJESTY IN OUR SKIN
Nigerian artist Kelani Fatai, based in Lagos, develops a pictorial practice that celebrates the beauty, dignity and power of Black bodies. In Majesty in Our Skin, he presents a series of portraits in which his sitters – often inspired by people around him – are placed at the heart of refined settings, surrounded by fabrics, objects and patterns that evoke both the history of classical painting and contemporary African aesthetics.
By reappropriating the codes of the portrait of state – noble poses, elaborate garments, ornate backgrounds, circular or oval frames – Kelani Fatai reverses the visual hierarchies inherited from European art history. Where Black bodies were long confined to the background, he brings them to the very center of the composition, in all their presence. Whether shown frontally or in three-quarter view, his characters hold a calm, assured, sometimes slightly melancholic gaze that invites an intimate encounter rather than distant contemplation.
Saturated colors, golden patterns and the meticulous rendering of skin, textures and accessories all contribute to staging majesty – a majesty that does not stem from a title or social status but from the simple existence of the Black body, fully affirmed. By giving his models a central, proud and luminous place, Majesty in Our Skin questions how Black bodies are represented in dominant visual narratives and proposes other possible images: sensitive, elegant and deeply assertive.
KELANI FATAI
Kelani Fatai (born in 1994) is a Nigerian artist from Mushin, a popular commercial district of Lagos. From an early age, he discovered drawing and trained with two Lagos-based artists, Damilola Opedun and Muyiwa Williams, before enrolling at Yaba College of Technology, where he obtained, in 2019, a Higher National Diploma in Painting.
His work focuses primarily on portraiture, which he approaches as a space of symbolic repair and celebration. Drawing on the codes of state portraiture and Victorian iconography – refined garments, dignified poses, backgrounds adorned with floral or gilded motifs – Kelani Fatai places Black bodies at the center of meticulously constructed compositions. The precision of his rendering, the lushness of the textures and the light cast on the skin turn each figure into a sovereign presence, while questioning the colonial legacy, representation, and the imaginaries surrounding Black beauty.
Equally at ease with oil, acrylic, pastel, watercolor and charcoal, he develops a rich, warm palette that combines intimate sensitivity with visual power. His works are now held in numerous private and institutional collections across Africa, Europe and North America. In 2025, he gained increased international visibility when Tina Knowles, Beyoncé’s mother, commissioned him to paint her portrait for the cover of her best-selling memoir Matriarch: A Memoir, published as part of Oprah’s Book Club – a landmark moment that confirms his place among the strong voices of the new generation of African painters.
MAJESTY IN OUR SKIN
KELANI FATAI
The gentleman's gaze, 2025
Signed, titled
Oil & acrylic on canvas
40,6 x 30,4 cm
Unique piece
​