Boluwatife Oyediran
Biography
BOLUWATIFE OYEDIRAN WAS BORN IN 1997 IN NIGERIA. HE CURRENTLY LIVES AND WORKS IN ACCRA, GHANA.
Oyediran is a contemporary painter working primarily with figuration and text. His practice is informed by a deep commitment to reimagining and reorientating black identity in the canons of history, religion and Western art, using cotton as an essential symbol of interrogation.
His works prompt reflection on long-standing systemic oppressions, particularly through his interrogation of the connecting link between the history of fashion, the history of cotton, and how these histories are related to black people. This informs his signature approach of placing black people dressed in high fashion in cotton fields, as well as his installation of black people in spheres of power that are hostile to them, rebuilding them with the inclusion of black possibilities and representation.
His works ask questions about looking, while injecting fresh perspectives and alternative narratives into ways of seeing. They reach into established norms, probe and question European constructs of biblical origin, characterisation and identity, as well as power plays and representation in organised Christianity.
His works are nourished by history, text, religion, literature, the African and Afro-American experience, the African Diaspora, the Global South, and issues ongoing in his home country of Nigeria. His approach is such that he pries into issues and conceives an idea towards that direction, then he moves on to translate such conception on canvas in the form of figuration or text, using oil, acrylic, gold leaf and spray paint.
Boluwatife Oyediran has exhibited in Nigeria and Switzerland.
Oyediran is a contemporary painter working primarily with figuration and text. His practice is informed by a deep commitment to reimagining and reorientating black identity in the canons of history, religion and Western art, using cotton as an essential symbol of interrogation.
His works prompt reflection on long-standing systemic oppressions, particularly through his interrogation of the connecting link between the history of fashion, the history of cotton, and how these histories are related to black people. This informs his signature approach of placing black people dressed in high fashion in cotton fields, as well as his installation of black people in spheres of power that are hostile to them, rebuilding them with the inclusion of black possibilities and representation.
His works ask questions about looking, while injecting fresh perspectives and alternative narratives into ways of seeing. They reach into established norms, probe and question European constructs of biblical origin, characterisation and identity, as well as power plays and representation in organised Christianity.
His works are nourished by history, text, religion, literature, the African and Afro-American experience, the African Diaspora, the Global South, and issues ongoing in his home country of Nigeria. His approach is such that he pries into issues and conceives an idea towards that direction, then he moves on to translate such conception on canvas in the form of figuration or text, using oil, acrylic, gold leaf and spray paint.
Boluwatife Oyediran has exhibited in Nigeria and Switzerland.
Works
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Black Boy Floral, 2022 -
The scientist, 2022
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And their Fingertips Were White with Grief, 2021
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Dreamscape, 2021
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Kemi, 2021
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Lady with a Boll, 2021
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Moremi, 2021
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Okuntakinte, 2021
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One of Y'all Folks Gon Betray Me, 2021
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Self Portrait As Napoleon , 2021
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The African Pope, 2021
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To Become a Man, 2021
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Untitled (portrait of Queen Elizabeth II), 2021
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Man in red Coat
Exhibitions
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Classique!
Group show 16 Jul - 17 Sep 2022We are thrilled to announce the opening of our new Parisian space located at 7 rue Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth, 75003 Paris. The inaugural exhibition Classique! - featuring works by - Moustapha Baidi Oumarou, Matthew Eguavoen, Salifou Lindou, Omar Mahfoudi, Richard Mensah, Ousmane Niang, Jean David Nkot, Nana Yaw Oduro, Hyacinthe Ouattara, Daniel Pengrapher and Marc Posso - it will take place from July 16th to September 17th.Read more -
Point of Correction
Boluwatife Oyediran 22 Jan - 22 Feb 2022Historical personalities and emblematic scenes of religious paintings enrich the pictorial vocabulary of Boluwatife Oyediran. In his solo exhibition Point of Correction , the Nigerian painter writes an alternative story,...Read more
Art Fairs
