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)

 
 

News

Featured
Toyin Ojih Odutola is participating in the Academy of American Poets’ 17th annual “Poetry & the Creative Mind” reading in celebration of National Poetry Month, to be held at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall on April 24th.

Toyin Ojih Odutola is participating in the Academy of American Poets’ 17th annual “Poetry & the Creative Mind” reading in celebration of National Poetry Month, to be held at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall on April 24th.

Ojih Odutola’s work is featured in Volume 60, Issue 1 of The Massachusetts Review , with her drawing, What Her Daughter Sees , 2018, as the quarterly’s cover.

Ojih Odutola’s work is featured in Volume 60, Issue 1 of The Massachusetts Review, with her drawing, What Her Daughter Sees, 2018, as the quarterly’s cover.

Ojih Odutola’s multi-media drawing, The Flavor and The Intent , 2015, is included in the group exhibition, Drawn Together Again , at The FLAG Art Foundation, New York, through May 18th .

Ojih Odutola’s multi-media drawing, The Flavor and The Intent, 2015, is included in the group exhibition, Drawn Together Again, at The FLAG Art Foundation, New York, through May 18th.

Ojih Odutola’s drawing, My Country Has No Name , 2013, is included in the group exhibition, Show Me as I Want to Be Seen , on view at The Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, California through July 7th, 2019.

Ojih Odutola’s drawing, My Country Has No Name, 2013, is included in the group exhibition, Show Me as I Want to Be Seen,on view at The Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, California through July 7th, 2019.

Ojih Odutola’s drawing, Anchor , 2018, is included in the group exhibition, Damn! The Defiant , on view at Fredericks & Freiser, New York, through March 2nd, 2019 .

Ojih Odutola’s drawing, Anchor, 2018, is included in the group exhibition, Damn! The Defiant, on view at Fredericks & Freiser, New York, through March 2nd, 2019.

Ojih Odutola participated in MoMA’s How To See video episode exploring Charles White’s work, on the occasion of his retrospective at the museum .

Ojih Odutola participated in MoMA’s How To See video episode exploring Charles White’s work, on the occasion of his retrospective at the museum.

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.

Ojih Odutola’s drawing, The Uncertainty Principle , 2014, is the cover illustration for Jennifer C. Nash’s new book, Black Feminism Reimagined After Intersectionality , released by Duke University Press, 2019 .

Ojih Odutola’s drawing, The Uncertainty Principle, 2014, is the cover illustration for Jennifer C. Nash’s new book, Black Feminism Reimagined After Intersectionality, released by Duke University Press, 2019.

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

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

Ojih Odutola’s drawing In This Imperfect Present Moment , 2016, which inspired the group exhibition title, is now on view at Seattle Art Museum , through June 16th, 2019.

Ojih Odutola’s drawing In This Imperfect Present Moment, 2016, which inspired the group exhibition title, is now on view at Seattle Art Museum, through June 16th, 2019.

Ojih Odutola’s drawing,  A Well-Read Life , 2017, along with other selected works, is included in the exhibition of shortlisted artists for  The Future Generation Art Prize  at the PinchukArtCentre, on view through April 7th, 2019 .

Ojih Odutola’s drawing, A Well-Read Life, 2017, along with other selected works, is included in the exhibition of shortlisted artists for The Future Generation Art Prize at the PinchukArtCentre, on view through April 7th, 2019.

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.

Ojih Odutola and Zadie Smith in conversation at The Drawing Center, New York, on the occasion of the group exhibition, For Opacity .

Ojih Odutola and Zadie Smith in conversation at The Drawing Center, New York, on the occasion of the group exhibition, For Opacity.

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.

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

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

A segment of Toyin Ojih Odutola’s drawing series, The Treatment , 2015—17, is on view in the group exhibition, Orientation: The Racial Imaginary Institute Biennial , at Jack Shainman Gallery . Read more about the series here .

A segment of Toyin Ojih Odutola’s drawing series, The Treatment, 2015—17, is on view in the group exhibition, Orientation: The Racial Imaginary Institute Biennial, at Jack Shainman Gallery. Read more about the series 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)

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 . Read more about the impetus for the exhibition here .

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. Read more about the impetus for the exhibition here.

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 . Read about a selected work from the exhibition here .

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. Read about a selected work from the exhibition here.

Ojih Odutola was honored at the third annual Amref Heath Africa ArtBall , as the recipient of the Rees Visionary Award for 2018 . She is pictured here with patrons, Kasseem “Swizz Beatz“ Dean, and Alicia Keys. (Photo by BFA)

Ojih Odutola was honored at the third annual Amref Heath Africa ArtBall, as the recipient of the Rees Visionary Award for 2018. She is pictured here with patrons, Kasseem “Swizz Beatz“ Dean, and Alicia Keys.
(Photo by BFA)

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

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 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.

Ojih Odutola is featured in a profile by Zadie Smith for British Vogue , on the occasion of her solo exhibition, To Wander Determined , at Whitney Museum of American Art .

Ojih Odutola is featured in a profile by Zadie Smith for British Vogue, on the occasion of her solo exhibition, To Wander Determined, at Whitney Museum of American Art.

Ojih Odutola appointed by Barnard College as the Lida A. Orzeck ’68 Distinguished Artist-in-Residence for the 2017—2018 academic year , pictured here with Lida Orzeck at Whitney Museum in 2018. (Photo: Barnard College)

Ojih Odutola appointed by Barnard College as the Lida A. Orzeck ’68 Distinguished Artist-in-Residence for the 2017—2018 academic year, pictured here with Lida Orzeck at Whitney Museum in 2018.
(Photo: Barnard College)

 
 

EXHIBITIONS


Plumb Line: Charles White and the Contemporary
California African American Museum, Los Angeles, California
6 March — 25 August 2019


Drawn Together Again
The FLAG Art Foundation, New York
23 February — 18 May 2019


Dreamweavers
UTA Artist Space, Los Angeles, California
13 February — 13 April 2019


Future Generation Art Prize Exhibition of Shortlisted Artists
PinchukArtCentre, Kiev, Ukraine
9 February — 7 April 2019


Show Me as I Want to Be Seen
The Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, California
7 February — 7 July 2019


Art on Paper 2019: The 45th Exhibition
Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, North Carolina
3 February 2019 — 5 May 2019


Presence: Meditations on the Spelman College Collection
Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia
31 January — 18 May 2019


Highlights From the Sweet Briar Collection
Pannell Gallery, Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, Virginia
31 January — 2 June 2019


Damn! The Defiant
Fredericks & Freiser Gallery, New York, New York
17 January — 23 February 2019


Pulse
Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, Kansas
30 November 2018 — 3 February 2019


Shifting Gaze: A Reconstruction of The Black & Hispanic Body in Contemporary Art
Mennello Museum of American Art, Orlando, Florida
19 October 2018 — 13 January 2019


For Opacity
The Drawing Center, New York, New York
12 October 2018 — 3 February 2019


In This Imperfect Present Moment
Seattle Museum of Art, Washington
21 July 2018 — 16 June 2019


Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa's Arts
National Museum of African Art (Smithsonian), Washington, DC
4 November 2017 — Permanent

 
 

Events

 
 

CONTACT


Represented by: 


Jack Shainman Gallery
513 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
info@jackshainman.com
T: +1 212 645 1701

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

PRESS


HyperAllergic, A Probing Look at How We Perform and Present the Self, by Harry Tafoya, (2019)

ArtDaily, Original exhibition examines the representation of fluid identity, (2019)

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)

Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art, To Wander Determined, by Jody Cutler, (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)

Big Red & Shiny, The Social and Private Life of the Black Bourgeoisie: Toyin Ojih Odutola at the Hood Downtown, by Denis Mutungi, (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)

Kadist, Toyin Ojih Odutola, (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)

 

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