Toyin Odutola

Toyin Ojih Odutola is a Nigerian-American contemporary visual artist recognized for her intricate multimedia drawings and works on paper. Her unique artistic style, often featuring detailed portrait drawings primarily in black pen ink, has been influenced by notable African-American portraiture artists and contemporary figures such as Kerry James Marshall, Wangechi Mutu, and Julie Mehretu. Odutola's work has been featured in Forbes' 2012 list of 30 notable individuals under 30 in the category "Art & Style" and has graced the cover of Juxtapoz Magazine in November 2017, coinciding with her museum solo exhibition "To Wander Determined" at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Her artwork explores complex themes such as socio-economic inequality, the legacy of colonialism, and notions of blackness, providing depth beyond the visual appeal.

In addition to her individual work, Odutola has been active in the global art community, participating in exhibitions and biennials around the world. Notable exhibitions include her solo museum exhibition "Untold Stories" at the Contemporary Art Museum St Louis in 2015, "A Matter of Fact" at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco in 2016, and "Scenes of Exchange" at the 12th iteration of the Manifesta international biennial in Palermo, Italy, in 2018. In 2019, she was nominated for the Future Generation Art Prize and participated in related exhibitions at the PinchukArtCentre and the 58th Venice Biennale. Her first museum solo exhibition in the United Kingdom, "A Countervailing Theory," opened at The Curve gallery at Barbican Centre, London, in August 2020, further solidifying her status in the international art scene.

Odutola's contributions to the art community have been recognized with a number of accolades and positions. She served as the Lida A. Orzeck ’68 Distinguished Artist-in-Residence at Barnard College for the academic year 2017-2018 and was inducted into the National Academicians Class of 2019 by the National Academy of Design. Her work is held in numerous public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Awards include the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Fellowship Grant from Yale University and the Lauréate of the Prix Jean-François Prat from The Bredin Prat Foundation for Contemporary Art. Alongside her visual art, Odutola has published works such as "Alphabet: A Selected Index of Anecdotes and Drawings" and "A Countervailing Theory," the exhibition catalog for her show at the Barbican Centre, demonstrating her versatility and commitment to her craft.