Wole Lagunju

Wole Lagunju (b. 1966 Oshogbo, Nigeria, lives and works in the United States) trained in graphic design at the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. His work is associated with Onaism, a contemporary art movement of the Ife Art School dedicated to reimagining the forms and philosophies of traditional Yoruba art and design. He often pairs this influence with a clash of diverse cultural notions exploring post-colonial hierarchies and hybridisation.

 

Lagunju was awarded a Phillip Ravenhill Fellowship by UCLA in 2006 and a Pollock Krasner award in 2009. His work is held in numerous collections, including Collection Leridon ans Fondation d'entreprise Francès (both France).

 

Selected exhibitions include Cut from the Same Cloth, Ed Cross, London (2022); We all live here, Ed Cross, London (2020); Yoruba Remixed, Ebony Curated, Cape Town, (2018-19), 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London (2018); Navigating Space and Time in African Contemporary and Diasporic Art, The Basement, London (2017); Wole Lagunju: African Diaspora Artist and Transnational Visuality, James Madison University, Virginia (2014); Womanscape: Race, Gender and Sexuality in African Art, University of Texas, Austin (2011); AFRICA NOW!: Emerging Talents from a Continent on the Move, The World Bank Art Program, Washington DC (2008); The Art of Oshogbo, Via Mundi Gallery, Atlanta (2006); Without Borders: Four Contemporary Artists, Pan African University, Lagos (2004); and Best of Ife, Goethe Institute, Lagos (1997).