COLOUR, CULTURE AND DIGITAL CANVAS:TEMITOPE OGUNSEITAN (TP4STYLE) AT THE SB ART GROUP EXHIBITION, LONDON

Tolulope Oke

Digital paintings exploring ancestral identity and Black beauty exhibited at The Archives, North London.

A Nigerian visual artist has turned heads at a major international group exhibition in London, presenting two striking digital paintings that draw on the deep wells of Yoruba spiritual tradition and the celebration of Black womanhood Temitope Ogunseitan, known professionally as TP4STYLE, was among over thirty artists selected to exhibit at the SB Art Group Exhibition, held from 27 to 29 June 2025 at The Archives, Unit 10, Floor 5, N15 4QN in North London. The three-day exhibition brought together artists from across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas, offering the public free entry to engage with a genuinely global collection of contemporary work.

Ogunseitan’s two contributions — Orisà and Dúdú — were among the most discussed works at the show, drawing visitors into a visual and cultural conversation rooted in South West Nigerian heritage.

Orisà, or “deity,” is a digital painting that explores the Yoruba tradition of colour symbolism in reference to the Orisa, or divine entities of the Yoruba faith. The painting honours Osun, the Yoruba goddess of love, beauty, fertility, and water, depicted as a person clad in dazzling yellow and decked with vibrant red blossoms. In Yoruba cosmology, yellow is the sacred colour of Osun, indicating prosperity, warmth, and the life-giving abundance she represents.

Ogunseitan, who was born and raised in Lagos State, the Yoruba heartland named after this deity, sees his work as an act of ancestral investigation. “I delve deep into the origin of my ancestors, experimenting with the relationships between deities and art,” he stated. “Each Orisa is associated with a specific colour that represents their traits, powers, and the elements they rule. I wanted to honour that legacy by incorporating it into contemporary visual language.”

His second work, Dúdú (Yoruba for dark), employs a different but equally structured technique. The digital painting has a dark-skinned woman at the center of the composition, surrounded by vibrant, bountiful fruit such as watermelon, grapes, and oranges that cascade around her in celebration of natural wealth and cultural richness. The contrast between her skin’s deep resonance and the dazzling spectrum of colours around her is purposeful, serving as a visual argument for the power, beauty, and presence of dark skin.
“I wanted to show both the strength and the gentle grace found in Black womanhood,” Ogunseitan explained. “The fruits are timeless symbols of vitality and cultural wealth. Together with the figure they tell a story that honours the elegance of dark beauty as it stands in bold conversation with nature’s vivid spectrum.”

Ogunseitan is no stranger to prominent platforms. His work has been featured at the National Portrait Gallery in London and on JCDecaux advertising billboards around the United Kingdom as part of the National Portrait of Britain 2024 selection. A commissioned body of work designs and performance delivered for Butetown carnival ( Afro Futuristim theme) drew over 25,000 people, and a collaborative work titled Portrait & power was recently acquired for the National Library of Wales’ permanent collection. He is currently employed as a Creative Wellbeing Worker for Essex County Council and a Volunteer Gallery Curator at the Firstsite Museum in Colchester.
Photographs from the SB Art Group Exhibition show the artist standing before his hung works – Orisà and Dúdú side by side
— as visitors engage with the pieces around him. The image speaks to a quietly confident artistic voice that is becoming increasingly recognised within the British and international contemporary art conversation.

The SB Art Group Exhibition ran from 27 to 29 June 2025 with free entry and complimentary drinks on opening night.
Temitope Ogunseitan (TP4STYLE) is a UK-based
interdisciplinary visual artist originally from Lagos, Nigeria.
His work spans digital painting, textile design, illustration and public art, and has been exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery London, the Wales Millennium Centre and internationally.