Virtual Exhibition - Joy Labinjo
Ode to Olaudah Equiano
Chapter Arts
Exhibition: October 2022 - 31 December 2023
Joy Labinjo. Ode to Olaudah Equiano, 2022
Oil on canvas, 200 x 150 cm
Courtesy of Guzel Photography Services and Chapter Arts
Opening: October 2022 - Sunday, December 31, 2023
Connoisseurs, collectors and dealers of African art are eyeing a new rising star.
Joy Labinjo. The British-Nigerian artist, who paints large-scale figurative paintings, often of black people, has achieved rapid success in recent years and is known for her talent for capturing sensitive, independent and vulnerable people. Rooted in her experience of facing racist language and marginalization in Britain as a multicultural black woman, Labinjo's work aims to celebrate black people in all its forms and nuances. The characters she paints are often drawn from people from her personal life and memories—in fact, Joy Labinjo began organizing her family's photo albums when she was 10 years old. This activity now takes root in many of her creative works. Drawing on these memories, found images and historical materials, Labinjo creates paintings that touch on themes of identity, race, history, identity, family, and community.
Labinjo's work often gives the characters that she portrays full emphasis, making them the absolute star of her work. She, like Olauda Equiano, a former slave who was the first black person to buy freedom and vote in Britain, has captured images of historically significant black people in Britain.
Olauda was one of the first European Black people to publish a memoir, titled The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavas Vassa, The African. This painting is based on a portrait of Equiano that appears in the Penguin edition of The Interesting Narrative. ‘Ode to Olaudah Equiano’ reflects the elusiveness of this portrait, as well as the slipperiness of slavery’s archive, where even the most eminent former slaves are threatened with obscurity. ‘Ode to Olaudah Equiano’ follows a contextual interest to centre the lives of pre-20th century Black, British individuals and communities. Drawing on historical archives and collections, this new body of paintings of Labinjo foregrounds some significant, and some unknown, individuals. View this virtual exhibition online, through the lens of your device, at the Chapter Arts website. Take an interactive tour of the gallery and click for descriptions, images and information about Labinjo’s work.
Labinjo makes use of a simple background, and she prefers color blocking to portray these significant scenes like her sensitive nude portraits to combat the policing of black women’s bodies. These techniques are what make the message all the more striking. Because of the skin tones of her figures, she often chooses to juxtapose different shades of brown and orange with little blending, revealing the materiality and painterly quality of the work. As the viewer ponders Labinjo's work, the gaze is immediately drawn to the famous figure as it sweeps through a variety of shades and brushstrokes that are quite different yet exist in perfect harmony.
Filled with bright colors and vibrant patterns, Labinjo’s work depicts everyday scenes of domestic life and often feature imaginary interior figures that lend a timeless quality to the scenes. The message and the sensibility of Labinjo’s painting has propelled her young career to rapid success.
About:
Joy Labinjo (b. 1994, Dagenham, England) is a British Nigerian artist living and working in London, England. She holds a BFA from the University of Newcastle. She’s currently studying for an MFA at the Ruskin School of Art at the University of Oxford. Her recent solo exhibitions include Tiwani Contemporary, Lagos, Nigeria (2020) and BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK (2019); among others. Numerous key galleries and museums such as Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden (MACAAL), Marrakech, Morocco (2021) and The Breeder Gallery, Athens, Greece (2020), have featured Labinjo's work in the past. She was also featured in group exhibitions at the Royal Academy, London, UK (2020); Women's Art Collection, Cambridge, UK (2022). In 2022, Labinjo created an acclaimed commissioned work for the Brixton Underground station in London. She was awarded the Woon Art Prize in 2017. It is likely that Labinjo is set to exhibit at even more prestigious locations and reach new heights in her artistic career.
Chapter Arts
Chapter Arts is located at
Market Road, Canton
Cardiff, CF5 1QE
T: (029) 2031-1050
E: enquiry@chapter.org
Sources: https://www.chapter.org/whats-on/all-shows/virtual-exhibition-joy-labinjo-ode-to-olaudah-equiano/8753
