Jemila Modesti, Argentinean artist, born the 9th of October of 1980 in Kaduna, Northern Nigeria, where she spent most of her childhood.

She grew up around her mother’s oil paints and printing inks, Norma Bogado, Argentinean artist, who attended the School of Fine Arts of Rome ( Scuola delle Belle Arti) and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the- Fields in London. Xylography and German expressionism were her passion. Her father Orlando Modesti Architect and Landscaper.


Jemila, started to travel with her mother since a very young age. Lived part of her teenage years in Argentina, and later on in Italy where she attended the Liceo Atistico of Latina.

Her life took a big turn when she returned to Nigeria. There she worked with various Nigerian Artists such as Victor Adamu using the Yoruba painting techniques and Hausa ceramic techniques, as well as the lost wax techniques from the Tuareg people of Niger.

After her secondary school, she studied Jewellery design and manufacturing, in the Lebanese Jewellery Institute of design in Beirut, Lebanon.
She also learned pottery and Raku in the Atelier de Natalie Khayat, Lebanese Artist.

Her years in Lebanon profoundly marked her artistic vision, it shaped the way in which she perceives beauty, in its most pure and impermanent form.

She lived for some time in South Africa before moving to Argentina, where her artistic "search" begun.

Her main Artistic influence was her mother, who guided her in the long difficult road.

Her passion for Art Nouveau, as well as for Gustav Klimt, Alphonse Mucha and Egon Schiele and of most artist of that Era marked her choice of palette as well as her themes.

She has a love for English literature, Jane Austen in particular, glimpses of which can be found in the title names and writings in the paintings. Her portraits try to discern the strength of women, at the same time attempting to capture their subtlety and etherealness. Her great passion for Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz is a constant in her paintings to whom she dedicates half of her older collection.

Since January 2009 she lives in Montevideo, Uruguay.


Materials used in paintings:
Canvas, MDF boards, gesso, oil painting, newspapers, magazine cut outs, book cut outs , pencils, aquarelle , pastels and glue.


… Read More