Luke Agada was born in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1992, and his path toward becoming one of the most intriguing voices in contemporary painting is itself a story of displacement, reinvention, and the fluid construction of identity. Before dedicating himself fully to art, he studied veterinary medicine — a field seemingly distant from the visual arts, yet one that left a subtle imprint on his understanding of the body, emotional anatomy, and the fragility of living forms. His eventual migration to the United States marked a decisive shift: he entered the Painting and Drawing MFA program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where his pictorial language began to take on a distinctive and compelling clarity. Since then, exhibitions across the United States, Europe, Africa, and Asia have amplified his international presence and sparked growing critical interest.
