Toyin Ojih Odutola’s tribute portrait drawing of the late Aretha Franklin for The New York Times Magazine ’s “The Lives They Lived” issue cover , released December 30th, 2018.

Toyin Ojih Odutola’s tribute portrait drawing of the late Aretha Franklin for The New York Times Magazine’s “The Lives They Lived” issue cover, released December 30th, 2018.

 
 
 
 
The publication accompaniment, Toyin Ojih Odutola: A Matter of Fact , (2018), which catalogs the titular exhibition from 2016, at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, has been released .

The publication accompaniment, Toyin Ojih Odutola: A Matter of Fact, (2018), which catalogs the titular exhibition from 2016, at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, has been released.

 
 
 
Toyin Ojih Odutola's diptych drawing, The Engagement , 2015, was recently acquired by Mississippi Museum of Art . Read more about the work here .

Toyin Ojih Odutola's diptych drawing, The Engagement, 2015, was recently acquired by Mississippi Museum of Art.
Read more about the work here.

 
 
 
 
 
Installation view segment of Toyin Ojih Odutola’s drawings in For Opacity: Elijah Burgher, Toyin Ojih Odutola, and Nathaniel Mary Quinn , at The Drawing Center, New York , on view through February 3rd, 2019. (Photo: Martin Parsekian)

Installation view segment of Toyin Ojih Odutola’s drawings in For Opacity: Elijah Burgher, Toyin Ojih Odutola, and Nathaniel Mary Quinn, at The Drawing Center, New York, on view through February 3rd, 2019.
(Photo: Martin Parsekian)

 
 
 
 
 

Biography


Toyin Ojih Odutola (b. 1985, Ife, Nigeria) creates multimedia drawings on various surfaces investigating formulaic representations and how such images can be unreliable, systemic, and socially-coded.

Ojih Odutola has participated in exhibitions at various institutions, including The Drawing Center, New York (2018—19); Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2017—18); Brooklyn Museum, New York (2016); Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (2015); Studio Museum Harlem, New York (2015, 2012); Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield (2013); and Menil Collection, Houston, (2012).

Permanent collections include Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Birmingham Museum of Art, Baltimore Museum of Art, New Orleans Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Princeton University Art Museum, Spencer Museum of Art, Honolulu Museum of Art, and the National Museum of African Art (Smithsonian).

She earned her BA from the University of Alabama in Huntsville and her MFA from California College of the Arts in San Francisco. Ojih Odutola lives and works in New York.

(PDF copy of CV)

 
 
 
In This Imperfect Present Moment , 2016, now on view at Seattle Art Museum , through June 16th, 2019.

In This Imperfect Present Moment, 2016, now on view at Seattle Art Museum, through June 16th, 2019.

 
 
 
 
 
Toyin Ojih Odutola’s diptych drawing, The Firm, 2017-18, part of her solo exhibition, When Legends Die , at Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, on view September through October 2018 .

Toyin Ojih Odutola’s diptych drawing, The Firm, 2017-18, part of her solo exhibition, When Legends Die, at Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, on view September through October 2018.

 
 
 

CONTACT


Represented by: 

Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

 
 
 
 

EVENTS

 
 
Toyin Ojih Odutola, Birmingham (left, middle, right) , 2014, lithograph suite, made in collaboration with Tamarind Institute .

Toyin Ojih Odutola, Birmingham (left, middle, right), 2014, lithograph suite, made in collaboration with Tamarind Institute.

 
 
 
 
Toyin Ojih Odutola’s drawing, Projection Enclave , 2018, has been acquired by Museum of Modern Art, New York .

Toyin Ojih Odutola’s drawing, Projection Enclave, 2018, has been acquired by Museum of Modern Art, New York.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Toyin Ojih Odutola's drawing, M7 , 2015, was acquired by Philadelphia Museum of Art in 2015.

Toyin Ojih Odutola's drawing, M7, 2015, was acquired by Philadelphia Museum of Art in 2015.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Toyin Ojih Odutola, The Future is Romantic , 2015, part of the solo exhibition, Of Context and Without , at Jack Shainman Gallery, New York (2015—16) .

Toyin Ojih Odutola, The Future is Romantic, 2015, part of the solo exhibition, Of Context and Without, at Jack Shainman Gallery, New York (2015—16).

 
 
 
 
Toyin Ojih Odutola’s drawing, Crown and House Post, in Congress , 2018, was part of her solo exhibition, Scenes of Exchange , at the Orto Botanico di Palermo, Italy, for the 12th Manifesta Biennial .

Toyin Ojih Odutola’s drawing, Crown and House Post, in Congress, 2018, was part of her solo exhibition, Scenes of Exchange, at the Orto Botanico di Palermo, Italy, for the 12th Manifesta Biennial.

 
 
Toyin Ojih Odutola featured in an article by Dodie Kazanjian for the August 2018 issue of Vogue US , photographed by Alec Soth .

Toyin Ojih Odutola featured in an article by Dodie Kazanjian for the August 2018 issue of Vogue US, photographed by Alec Soth.

 
 
 

PRESS


The New York Times, Artwork Taken From Africa, Returning to a Home Transformed, by Jason Farago, (2019)
The New York Times, For Opacity, by Will Heinrich, (2019)
The New York Times Magazine, The Lives They Lived, (2018)
ArtNews Magazine, ‘Mark-Making As a Land Your Eyes Traverse’: Toyin Ojih Odutola Talks with Zadie Smith, by Shirley Nwangwa, (2018)
The Drawing Center, Thoughts on For Opacity with Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Elijah Burgher, and Toyin Ojih Odutola, (2018)
Filthy Dreams, I’ve Got Loyalty, Got Royalty Inside My DNA: Toyin Ojih Odutola’s “When Legends Die”, by Emily Colucci, (2018) 
The Art Newspaper, Three shows to see in New York this weekend, (2018)
The New York Times Magazine, Seven Boundary-Pushing Cultural Moments of 2018, (2018)
The Brooklyn Rail, Toyin Ojih Odutola: When Legends Die, by Amber Jamilla Musser, (2018)
ArtNews Magazine, PinchukArtCentre Names Shortlist for 2019 Future Generation Art Prize, by Alex Greenberger, (2018)
The New Yorker, Toyin Ojih Odutola, by Johanna Fateman, (2018)
The Paris Review, There Is No Story That Is Not True: An Interview with Toyin Ojih Odutola, by Osman Can Yerebakan, (2018)
The New York Times, Toyin Ojih Odutola, by Jillian Steinhauer, (2018)
OCULA Magazine, New York Exhibitions: The Autumn Lowdown, by Jareh Das, (2018)
Art & Object, "When Legends Die" Brings a Family Tree to Life at Jack Shainman Gallery, by Chandra Noyes, (2018)
W Magazine, Artist Toyin Ojih Odutola Is Reimagining the History of Nigerian Slaves as Royals, by Diane Solway, (2018)
The Brooklyn Rail, The Racial Imaginary Institute: On Whiteness, by Nico Wheadon, (2018)
OCULA Magazine, Manifesta 12: Cultivating Coexistence, by Jareh Das, (2018)
Vogue US, Reimagining Black Experience in the Radical Drawings of Toyin Ojih Odutola, by Dodie Kazanjian, (2018)
Art Papers, Toyin Ojih Odutola: Testing the Name, by Logan Lockner, (2018)
British Vogue, Zadie Smith On The Extraordinary Artwork Of Toyin Ojih Odutola, (2018)
Black Visual Impulse, Tour: 'Toyin Ojih Odutola: Testing the Name' at SCAD MoA, (2018)
Frieze Magazine, Unselfconscious is the New Black for Emerging Artists of Colour, by Chase Quinn, (2018)
Artsy + Dior, The Artsy Vanguard: Newly Established, (2018)
i-D Magazine, Nigerian Artist Toyin Ojih Odutola Paints Radically Soft Visions of Black Wealth, by André-Naquian Wheeler, (2018)
The Art Newspaper, SCAD honours Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, by Victoria Stapley-Brown, (2018) 
Public Books, Toyin Ojih Odutola, The Treatment 2015–2017, by Anne Higonnet, (2018)
The New York Times, Toyin Ojih Odutola, by Martha Schwendener, (2018) 
MUSE Magazine, Toyin Ojih Odutola: Art Portrait, by Kathleen Hefty, (2018) 
CULTURED Magazine, Solange Knowles and Toyin Ojih Odutola Talk Sound, Art and Architecture, (2018)
HyperAllergic, The Permanence of Toyin Ojih Odutola’s Invented World, by Seph Rodney, (2018)
Whitney Museum of American Art, "Toyin Ojih Odutola: By Her Design," by Rujeko Hockley and Melinda Lang, (2018)
Girls at Library, Toyin Ojih Odutola, (2018)
Barnard College, Toyin Ojih Odutola: Orzeck Artist-in-Residence Investigates Meanings of Racial Identities, (2018)
Columbia Spectator, Barnard’s Black History Month kicks off with panel featuring Toyin Ojih Odutola, Mary Sibande, by Sophie Kossakowski, (2018)
Daily Beast, Toyin Ojih Odutola Challenges Blackness in Art—and Racism in Trump’s America, by Lyne Lucien, (2018)
Barnard Magazine, Making Her Mark, On Campus, by Makeda Best, (2018)
Elephant Magazine, Artists of the Year: 2017, (2017)
ArtReview, Ten exhibitions to see this month: December 2017 Previews, by Martin Herbert, (2017)
HyperAllergic, A Year of Magical Figurative Art, (2017)
Whitewall Magazine, 30 Artists With a Lasting Impact in 2017, (2017)
Walker Arts Center, Guest Lists, 2017: The Year According to Brad Ogbonna, (2017) 
Broadly, 2017's Breakout Artists Brought Marginalized Identity to the Fore, by Sarah Burke, (2017) 
Black Visual Impulse, Toyin Ojih Odutola: Surface & Blackness, by Jessica Owens, (2017)
Interview Magazine, Toyin Ojih Odutola defies conventional portrayals of black bodies, by Kat Herriman, (2017)
IFA Contemporary, Unpacking the Layers of Toyin Ojih Odutola: To Wander Determined, by Indira Abiskaroon (2017)
CULTURED Magazine, Toyin Ojih Odutola: Young Artists to Watch in 2018, by Jessica Lynne, (2017)
WNYC News, Review: Wandering with Determination and Beauty, by Rebecca Carroll, (2017)
Even Magazine, Hidden Noise: Episode no. 3, (2017)
Elle Magazine, Women in Art Issue, by Molly Langmuir, (2017)
The New Yorker, Toyin Ojih Odutola: To Wander Determined, (2017)
L'Officiel USA, Toyin Ojih Odutola’s To Wander Determined Is a Must-See at The Whitney, by Eduardo Alfonso, (2017)
Elle Magazine, Artist Toyin Ojih Odutola Finally Gets Her Due at the Whitney, by Sasha Bonét, (2017)
Vogue Magazine, At the Whitney, a Vision of Africa—Without the Colonialist Meddling, by Julia Felsenthal, (2017)
ArtNet News, See the Opulent Portraits That Took Toyin Ojih Odutola From the Set of ‘Empire’ to the Whitney, by Caroline Goldstein, (2017) 
GARAGE Magazine, Toyin Ojih Odutola Imagines A World In Which Slavery Never Happened, by Aruna D'Souza, (2017)
The Cut, This Whitney Artist’s Drawing Appeared on Empire, by Rozanne Els, (2017)
JUXTAPOZ Magazine, Toyin Ojih Odutola: Infinite Possibility, by Kristin Farr, (2017)
ARTNews, Toyin Ojih Odutola Named Artist-in-Residence at Barnard College, by Alex Greenberger, (2017)
Barnard College, Visual Artist Toyin Ojih Odutola to Join Barnard College as Orzeck Artist-in-Residence, (2017)
Modern Painters Magazine, Toyin's artistic stroke, by Joseph Akel, (2017)
The New York Times Style Magazine, Five Artists Respond to: Charlottesville, (2017)
Raw Material: A Podcast from SFMoMA, Episode 4: The Mind, Season 2: Manifest, by Gerladine Ah-Sue, (2017)
The New York Times Style Magazine, "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young African Immigrant," by Taiye Selasi, (2017)
Lenny Letter, "The Artist Who's Giving Side-Eye to the Art World," by Manisha Aggarwal-Schifellite, (2017)
MOUSSE Magazine, Exhibitions:  “Vanishing Points” at James Cohan, New York, (2017)
Artforum International Magazine, Reviews: "Toyin Ojih Odutola, Museum of the African Diaspora," by Leigh Raiford, (2017)
NYLON Magazine, "Toyin Ojih Odutola Uses Art To Challenge Invented Constructs Of The Self," by Sydney Gore, (2017)
Artforum International Magazine, Critic's Picks: San Francisco, "Toyin Ojih Odutola," by Kim Beil, (2017)
Daily Serving, A Matter of Fact: Toyin Ojih Odutola at Museum of the African Diaspora, by Maria Porges, (2017)
Artforum International Magazine, "Best of 2016," by David Adjaye, (2016)
Aperture Magazine, Vision & Justice, Issue 223, Summer 2016, "Toyin Ojih Odutola: A New Grammar for Blackness," by Claudia Rankine, (2016)
Forbes Magazine, "Artist Toyin Ojih Odutola Explores and Questions the Construct of Blackness," by Adam Lehrer, (2016)
Whitewall Magazine, "Toyin Ojih Odutola's 'Of Context and Without' at Jack Shainman Gallery," by Emory Lopiccolo, (2016)
Artforum International Magazine, Critic's Picks: New York, "Toyin Ojih Odutola," by Ian Bourland, (2016) 
Interview Magazine, "Traveling with Toyin Ojih Odutola," by Emily McDermott, (2015)
The Huffington Post, "Stunning Ballpoint Imagery Explores Blackness And The Power Of Ink," by Claire Fallon, (2015)
Wallpaper Magazine, "Toyin Ojih Odutola explores race and identity in black and white," by Michael Slenske, (2015)
Saint Heron, "Interview: Toyin Ojih Odutola," by Tanekeya Ward, (2015)
The Creators Project, "Journey Down Toyin Ojih Odutola and Kilo Kish's Creative Roadmap," by Kilo Kish, (2015)
The New York Times Style Magazine, "The Male Muse, Depicted by Women," by Leanne Shapton, (2015)
BOMB Magazine, Interview with Ashley Stull, (2015)
Studio International Magazine, "Toyin Ojih Odutola: ‘I’m no longer interested in portraying what I think I am in my work,’" by A Will Brown, (2015)
Modern Painters Magazine, "Toyin Ojih Odutola's Rich Figures, Born of Modest Medium," by Michael Slenske, (2014)
ArtNews Magazine, "Making Cutting-Edge Art with Ballpoint Pens," by Trent Morse, (2014)
The San Francisco Chronicle, "'The Moment for Ink': Show frees artist," by Kimberly Chun, (2013)
Interview Magazine, "Toyin Ojih Odutola and the Public Struggle," by Julie Bramowitz, (2013)
The New York Times, "Reflections:  '26 July, 4:50am' by Toyin (Ojih) Odutola, Studio Museum in Harlem," by Holland Cotter, (2013)"
Forbes Magazine, "30 Under 30: Style and Art, Toyin (Ojih) Odutola, Artist, 27," by Susan Adams, (2012)
The Village Voice, Q&A: Toyin Ojih Odutola on Drawing, Chinese Art, and What It Really Means to Have a Big Head, by Alexandra Bell, (2012)
Vogue Italia, "Toyin Ojih Odutola," by Yomi Abiola, (2011)
The New York Times, "Museum and Gallery Listings for June 17-23, Toyin (Ojih) Odutola: 'MAPS,'" by Holland Cotter, (2011)

 
 
 

Studio Diary

 
Overzealously geeking-out over #CharlesWhite’s technical dexterity with materials and penmanship, due to seeing his work in-person for the first time in my life, while saying “LIKE” and “RIGHT?” excessively, due to being terribly nervous and unskilled at being filmed—plus more for @themuseumofmodernart’s #HowToSee series, on their YouTube channel now. Many thanks to Esther Adler and the amazing crew and staff of MoMa’s Drawing and Prints Dept; it was a privilege and a joy to be a part of this. _________ Final weekend to see “Charles White: A Retrospective” before it closes on Sunday, January 13, @themuseumofmodernart.
2018 put us all through the ringer, but I’m so thankful we made it. Trying to focus on the beautiful experiences and all the blessings. Wishing everyone a healthy and fruitful forthcoming year, full of love and goodness. Taking in some much-needed rest and reflection, but also heading into 2019 like.... ________ Ife, Nigeria, c. 1980s
@nytmag’s cover for “The Lives They Lived” issue, out this Sunday, drawn with ballpoint pen and pencil. I took this opportunity deeply to heart. She is captured mid-song, to emphasize the vitality, freedom and vulnerability emblematic of a woman who truly redefined an art form and created a new language of expression. I hope you all hear her unmistakable and inspiring voice when you see the portrait as I did while drawing it. Many thanks to Gail, Jessica, Kathy, Jake and everyone in NYTMag staff for their support and generosity, it was truly an honor. #ArethaFranklin — #ToyinOjihOdutola
It's a reflective time. Lots of text, I know...but so thankful for this interview with @KristinFarr for @juxtapozmag back in November of 2017. To this day, I hold this interview in my heart. Nothing else has come close to illustrating why I do what I do so perfectly. To me, art-making is never finite--and never will be--and I'm forever grateful for that. 🙏🏿 #ToyinOjihOdutola
The group exhibition, "Pulse," at @nermanmuseum, features works by #KatherineBradford, #HeidiHahn, #RonaldJackson, #HayvKahraman (@hayvkahraman), #AaronWrinkle, and yours truly, addressing the variety of ways the figure is utilized in contemporary art. On view thru February 3rd, 2019. _________ Surveying the Family Seat, 2018, by #ToyinOjihOdutola, in situ.