Toyin Ojih Odutola (b. 1985, Ilé-Ifẹ̀, Nigeria) is a visual artist and columnist based in New York. She is best known for her ecclectic, multimedia drawings made with pen ink, pencil, charcoal and pastel, often presented in large scale series, or “chapters.” Since 2011, themes in her work have explored the malleability of identity, meaning, memory, and power through portraiture and visual story-telling.

She has participated in solo and group exhibitions at national and international institutions, including the Barbican Centre, Kunsten Museum of Modern Art Aalborg, Whitney Museum of American Art, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, The Drawing Center, Brooklyn Museum, The Studio Museum in Harlem, Museu de Arte de São Paulo, the Menil Collection, as well as the 12th Manifesta Biennial in Palermo, Italy.

Ojih Odutola earned her BA from the University of Alabama in Huntsville and her MFA from California College of the Arts in San Francisco. In 2016, she undertook a residency at Headlands Center for the Arts; she was the Lida A. Orzeck ‘68 Distinguished Artist-in-Residence at Barnard College from 2017—2018; and in 2019, inducted into the National Academy of Design.

Public collections of her artworks are held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; National Portrait Gallery, London; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; The Art Institute of Chicago; Harvard Art Museums, Massachusetts; and the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington DC, among others.

︎︎︎ PDF of CV

Galleries

Jack Shainman ^{New York}

Corvi-Mora ^London

︎︎︎The New York Times Style Magazine, ^{by Lovia Gyarkye}
︎︎︎ Elephant Magazine, ^{by Louise Benson}
︎︎︎ Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso 
︎︎︎ The White Review, ^{by Orit Gat} 
︎︎︎ Kunsten.nu, ^{by Stinna Toft} 
︎︎︎ ArtReview, ^{by Rahel Aima} 
︎︎︎ The Brooklyn Rail, ^{by Amber Jamilla Musser}
︎︎︎ Jack Shainman Gallery | States of Being, ^{by Ojih Odutola}
︎︎︎ The New York Times, ^{by Jason Farago}
︎︎︎ The Art Newspaper, ^{by Louisa Buck}
︎︎︎ CNN Style, ^{by Jaqui Palumbo}
︎︎︎ Artforum, ^{by Cassie Packard}
︎︎︎ Granta, ^{by Yaa Gyasi}
︎︎︎ Arte.tv, ^{by Virginie Apiou}
︎︎︎ iNews, ^{by Hettie Judah}
︎︎︎ The Quietus, ^{by Amah-Rose Abrams}
︎︎︎ Harper’s Bazaar, ^{by Yaa Gyasi and Ojih Odutola}
︎︎︎ Artforum, ^{by Jo Baer}
︎︎︎ Flash Art, ^{by Kareem Reid}
︎︎︎ Frieze, ^{by Rianna Jade Parker}
︎︎︎ HyperAllergic, ^{by Naomi Polonsky}
︎︎︎ The New Yorker, ^{by Zadie Smith}
︎︎︎ Apollo Magazine, ^{by Samuel Reilly}
︎︎︎ National Portrait Gallery, ^{by Katy Hessel}
︎︎︎ Barbican Centre, ^{by Ojih Odutola}
︎︎︎ Conversation with Erin J. Gilbert, ^{Nothing Concrete Podcast}
︎︎︎ Cultural Politics, ^{by Deborah Frizzell}
︎︎︎ Artforum, ^{by Brian J. Green}
︎︎︎ Artsy, ^{by Gabrielle Bruney}
︎︎︎ Something Curated, ^{by Keshav Anand}
︎︎︎ Great Women Artists with Katy Hessel
︎︎︎ Talk Art with Russell Tovey & Robert Diament
︎︎︎ WePresent, ^{by Allyssia Alleyne}
︎︎︎ Apollo Magazine, ^{40 Under 40 Africa}
︎︎︎ The Guardian | Observer, ^{by Killian Fox}

︎︎︎ Conversation with Kenturah Davis
︎︎︎ them, ^{by Wren Sanders}
︎︎︎ Conversation with Zadie Smith, ^{The Drawing Center}
︎︎︎ PBS Brief But Spectacular
︎︎︎ The New York Times, ^{by Jason Farago}
︎︎︎ How To See — Charles White: A Retrospective, ^MoMA
︎︎︎ The New York Times, ^{by Jillian Steinhauer}
︎︎︎ Elephant Magazine, ^{by Charlotte Jansen}
︎︎︎ Juxtapoz Magazine, ^{by Kristin Farr}
︎︎︎ British Vogue, ^{by Zadie Smith}
︎︎︎ The New York Times Style Magazine, ^{by Leanne Shapton}
︎︎︎ Interview Magazine, ^{by Kat Herriman}
︎︎︎ Vogue, ^{by Julia Felsenthal}
︎︎︎ New Orleans Museum of Art, ^{by Katie Pfohl}
︎︎︎ Hood Museum, ^{by John Stomberg}
︎︎︎ The New Yorker, ^{by Johanna Fateman}
︎︎︎ Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art, ^{by Jody Cutler}
︎︎︎ The New York Times Style Magazine
︎︎︎ Elle Magazine, ^{by Molly Langmuir, Trish Deitch, Carly Leitzes}
︎︎︎ IFA Contemporary, ^{by Indira Abiskaroon}
︎︎︎ i-D Magazine, ^{by André-Naquian Wheeler}
︎︎︎ CULTURED Magazine, ^{by Solange Knowles, Ojih Odutola}
︎︎︎ Interview Magazine, ^{by Emily McDermott}
︎︎︎ The New York Times Style Magazine, ^{by Taiye Selasi}
︎︎︎ Luncheon Magazine, ^{by Reginald Moore}
︎︎︎ The Georgia Review, ^{by Katie Geha}
︎︎︎ The Massachusetts Review ^{Front Cover}
︎︎︎ The New York Times, ^{by Martha Schwendene}
︎︎︎ Frieze, ^{by Chase Quinn}
︎︎︎ The New York Times Sunday Review
︎︎︎ Vogue, ^{by Dodie Kazanjian}
︎︎︎ Paper Magazine, ^{by Khalid El Khatib}
︎︎︎ The New York Times Magazine
︎︎︎ Vanity Fair, ^{by Elissa Santisi}
︎︎︎ Mr. Welfare Podcast, A New York Minute, ^{by Mr. Gandy}
︎︎︎ Studio International Magazine, ^{by A Will Brown}
︎︎︎ The New York Times, ^{by Holland Cotter}
︎︎︎ Interview Magazine, ^{by Julie Bramowitz}