Ibiyinka Olufemi Alao (born 17 October, 1975[1]) is an American artist, architect, writer, film director and musical theater composer.

He obtained an A-Levels certificate in Physics at Kwara State Polytechnic and studied Architecture at the Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife.

In Japan, he is an advisor to the non profit Ashinaga [3] Fireflies are a big part of Ibi's artworks because of memories of a particularly beautiful childhood experience under the vast skies of West Africa.

He was recently interviewed about the impact of these light creatures on his work which was published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[7] On May 18, 2016 Ibi's Fireflies a story book based on one of his paintings "Eternity in our Hearts" won the Grand Prize of the 2016/2017 Scholastic "Kids are Authors" contest.

The book "Ibi's Firefies" is filed as the artist's biography at the Smithsonian National Museum of American Art, while the original painting along with some of his other works are catalogued with copyright by The United States Library of Congress As an Art Ambassador, the artist is among a select few around the world whose work is used to represent the original 1945 UN Charter of Peace, Food Security, Equality, Freedom, Human Dignity and more by agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations(FAO) in Rome,[10] and the UNFPA.

They express many themes including hope, joy, peace and love–a reflection of his West African roots and deep faith in Jesus Christ as Lover and Redeemer of our Souls.

James Wolfensohn, The Chairman Emeritus of the Carnegie Hall in New York City and Former President of the World Bank Group hosted Ibiyinka's artworks during the exhibit "Visions and Vignettes" - a collection of 18 contemporary colorful Tempera pieces.

Bucknell University hosted Ibiyinka for an art/science residency during the Autumn of 2021 with funding focused on Firefly research from National Science Foundation.

The art critic and poet Pascal Letellier of the French Cultural Center observed a special exhibit of Ibiyinka's work presented by the Royal Netherlands Embassy and British Council in 2002.

There are painters that are said to be naive- often they are great poets- they live lonely lives- they are elegant and gracious- they hardly walk, but often in the night they wander with their mysteries with a fragile appearance.

The multicoloured costumes of the men standing are like the universe which face and invite us- These big embroidered gowns are like the firmament, they occupy all the space when they are displayed.

These masterpieces of great patience illustrate the peaceful and surprising research, conducted alone by a unique artist, in the remote region of a Nigerian Imagination.