Born in 1981 in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, Prince Obasi graduated from the Yaba College of Technology's Fine Arts Department. The artist breaks with the traditional conventions of painting to create canvases combining acrylics and charcoal. Based in Port Harcourt, he is a member of the Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA).
His square-eyed figures are depicted in compositions inspired by 19th-century European bourgeois portraiture. The frontal poses, meticulous draping, antique jewellery and lace ground his paintings in the Western codes of classical portraiture, while the faces with their almost caricatured features diverge from them. But the sitter's physical resemblance is not a concern for Prince Obasi. Instead, he concentrates on translating their psychology, which is revealed in their often tearful gaze. A faint smile, rosy cheekbones and a hand on the shoulder are enough to modestly convey a feeling.
Prince Obasi first exhibited in 2005 at Yusuf Grillo Gallery in Lagos (Nigeria). He taught visual arts for many years before transitioning into a full-time studio practice in 2019. Since then, he has shown his work several times in group and solo exhibitions across Nigeria, and in Cape Town in 2022 at Eclectica Gallery. He will be exhibiting for the first time in Côte d'Ivoire at LouiSimone Guirandou Gallery in the group show The Power of Love.