Alex Nwokolo is a Nigerian painter born in Lagos in 1963.
In 1991 he graduated at the Auchi Polytechnic and became a full-time studio artist in Lagos. By this time he already had his trademark style, made of bright and bold artworks. In 2000 he obtained a Master of Fine Arts at the University of Benin.
Among the numerous prizes he has won, there is the American Ambassadors Prize that he received in 1991, and the Guinness Certificate of Merit in 2004.
Nwokolo works through repetition of themes, which helps him find clarity: each artwork is a new interpretation of the theme until he is done and moves to the next theme. His earliest theme was the Lagos rooftops, and he also represented cathedrals, forests, and Lagos party women.
The range of techniques and genres that he has worked with goes from realistic portraits in oil paint on canvas to abstract wall installations in metal. Because of this, Nwokolo identifies himself as a mixed media artist.