Bruce is known to be responsible for the renaissance in contemporary art in Nigeria.He is a Nigerian printmaker, painter, sculptor and a lecturer at St. Gregory’s College, where he taught for many years. Bruce has influenced many generations of young artists through his workshops and symposiums both in Nigeria and the U.S.A. pioneering graduate of the Zaria
Art School. Today he is seen as a respected leading artist in printmaking.

Bruce belongs to the first generation of contemporary artists graduated from the Nigerian College of Arts, Science, and Technology. His work however, portrays stylistic elements and compositions that inclined on a more African traditional style.

He has exhibited at the Tate Modern, London, the National Museum of African Art of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. and the Malmö Konsthall, Sweden. The National Gallery of Modern Art, Lagos has an exhibit of colorful abstract canvases by Onobrakpeya. Bruce is currently the president of Bruce Onobrakpeya foundation and organizer of the Annual Harmattan workshop in Agbara Otor, Delta State, Nigeria.