SIDNEY BLU
Sidney Blu (Nigerian American, b.1994) is a fine artist and entrepreneur known for his paintings, toys / figurines & clothing. Blu spent the majority of his childhood in Benin-City, Nigeria. Born into a family of sculptors well known in the region for bronze casting, he spent a chunk of his childhood with his uncle who are the bronze casters of Igun Street; as time went on Blu would often sit for hours drawing on paper his favorite cartoons and build toy houses, planes, cars and boats from scraps he found all over the place, he would also create fictional characters and build up stories / scenes in his mind and act them out for his peers as entertainment.
The Nigerian high school educational system divides its students into arts, social sciences and science classes and it was highly forbidden to take classes that were not in your curriculum, so Blu would often sneak into the arts class and was punished so many times for it but he kept coming back; eventually the arts teacher at the time Mr. Bitiboye Davies allowed Blu to take classes from outside the door or window. Seeing how invested in art Blu was, Mr. Davies took Blu under his wings and would go on to help him develop as an artist. In high school, Blu’s painting of the Virgin Mary got national recognition and caught the eye of the local media stations eventually he became the first and only student in the history of his high school (Immaculate Conception College) to win an arts award as a science student for the best in creativity.
Blu has a bachelor's degree in business administration & Management from SMC university Switzerland. He moved to the United States in 2017 and since then has successfully established his very strong and dominant style, evolving very rapidly Sidney Blu is regarded as one of the most promising talents coming out of Africa.
The most prominent themes in his work revolve around mental health, rebirth, love and triumph. Having struggled with anxiety from a very young age Sidney uses his canvas as therapy and shares stories of his life with us. Most of which is him overcoming and becoming.
If we take a deep dive into the artist’s catalog, you will notice a candid discussion unfolding: Blu doesn’t shy away from showing his past on canvas. He is not aloof with the viewer; he is open and honest. Blu is very physical with his approach and in all of his works, the artist uses his hands in conjunction with a brush. In Every painting, his chosen material are acrylic and oil pastel; a process he has repeated over and over again coupled with his color palette and has now become the very strong style associated with the artist, this coupled with his signature look is what distinguishes Blu from past artists and his contemporaries. The artist has made azure blue synonymous with his work’s aesthetic. Symbolic of states such as calmness and serenity, Blu uses this color to attract viewers.
The message in Sidney Blu’s work is about belief in oneself. Life has its ups and downs, and we can feel powerless during our lowest moments, but it is always important to remember that things get better. Even if that doesn’t happen tomorrow or the day after, things eventually get better. If you’re lacking in faith, if you are down, if you are giving up, then look at his work, because to him every piece is a testimony to him overcoming something in life, it is a record of him pushing past his previous boundaries as a human and an artist. For Sidney Blu, his work is his salvation, and it is something that has given him purpose. It is that salvation and purpose he hopes through his works he shares with those that need it the most.