Ref.: "Contemporary Art of Africa" - André Magnin and Jaques Soulillou - 1996

Twins Seven-Seven was born Taiwo Olaniyi Oyewale Aitoyeje in Ogidi Ikumu, Nigeria, in 1944. One of the most multitalented artists from the Oshogbo school, he paints, draws, sculpts, designs textiles and does metalwork. A musician, he has also produced several albums. Today he lives in Oshogbo, is active in local politics and performs with a band. Twins' imagination knows no bounds. He fills his works with fantastic creatures, creating a world with ties to Yoruba oral traditions, myths, religion and his own personal experiences. Among his most famous works are a group of etchings he created to illustrate the works of the famous Nigerian writer, Amos Tutuola (1920–1997). Populated with spirits and ghosts, Twins' etchings perfectly recreate the world of Tutuola's equally vivid imagination. Twins has also developed a technique known as sculpture painting, in which he raises the foreground of a painting to create a low relief. His paintings and prints are densely populated with figures that stand out from the background and move forward towards the viewer. Each image is carefully outlined in ink and subtly uses complementary colors.