Twins Seven-Seven (b. 1944-2011, Ogidi) was born Taiwo Olaniyi Oyewale-Toyeje Oyelale Osuntoki.
He was the only surviving child of seven sets of twins, all of whom died in infancy. His survival marked him as an abiku child—a child “born to die,” believed to be one of a tribe of spirit children. His unusual lineage gave rise to the name “Twins Seven-Seven,” or “Ibeji Meje-Meje” in Yoruba, which he adopted as a personal identity and his artistic name.
He was a central figure of the Osogbo Art School, he developed a unique modernist style rooted in Yoruba mythology and symbolism during Nigeria’s post-independence era.
Twins Seven-Seven worked across a wide range of media, including pen and ink drawings, etchings, painting, and wood panels. His surfaces are densely patterned, with intricate lines and repeated motifs. He portrays human figures, animals, spirits, and hybrid beings drawn from Yoruba cosmology and his imagination.
His first solo exhibition was held in March 1965 at Mbari Mbayo in Osogbo, on the occasion of the third anniversary of Mbari Mbayo. Soon after, his work began to circulate internationally.
He exhibited at the Neue Münchener Galerie, Munich (1965); National Museum of Ethnography, Prague (1965), Institute of Contemporary Arts, London (1967); University of Sussex (1967); Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles (1969); Camden Arts Centre, London (1969), and the Commonwealth Institute (1970).
From the 1970s onward, Twins Seven-Seven’s work was steadily presented by leading museums across the world, marking him as one of the most widely exhibited Nigerian artist of his generation. He exhibited in major European institutions such as the Musée de l’Homme, Paris (1970), the Museum für Völkerkunde, Vienna (1971), and the Staatliche Kunsthalle, Berlin (1979), as well as at the Second Indian Triennial in New Delhi (1971).
During this period he also established a strong presence in the United States, exhibiting at the Studio Museum in Harlem (1970), Union Carbide Gallery, New York (1972), the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago (1974), the National Gallery of African Art, Washington, D.C. (1974), the Crocker Art Gallery, Sacramento (1974), the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh (1976), and Howard University (1977). He participated in artist residencies in the United States including Merced College in California (1972) and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine (1974).
