Victor Ekpuk
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/Victor_Ekpuk_Headshot.jpg/220px-Victor_Ekpuk_Headshot.jpg)
Victor Ekpuk (born 1964) is a Nigerian-born artist based in Washington, DC. Ekpuk came to prominence through his paintings and drawings, which reflect indigenous African philosophies of the Nsibidi and Uli art forms.[1]
Work[]
Ekpuk's work frequently explores the human condition of identity in society.[2] It draws upon a wider spectrum of meaning that is rooted in African and global contemporary art discourses.[3][4] In 1989 Victor received his Bachelor of Fine Art degree (BFA), Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, Nigeria, where he first explored the aesthetic philosophies of Nsibidi.[5] Its economy of lines and encoded meanings led him to further explore drawing as writing, and to the invention of Ekpuk's own Glyphs. In a 2017 issue of Diaspora Quarterly, Visual Collaborative cited Ekpuk's work on the heritage of Africa art.[6]
Collections[]
His artworks are in private and public collections such as Smithsonian Institution National Museum of African Art,[7] Newark Museum, The World Bank, University of Maryland University College, Hood Museum, United States Art in Embassies Art Collection and the Fidelity Investment Art Collection.
Exhibitions[]
Ekpuk's work have been featured at venues including: Krannert Art Museum,[8] Champaign, Illinois; The Fowler Museum, Los Angeles; Museum of Art and Design (MAD), New York City; Newark Museum, New Jersey; The World Bank, Washington DC; Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of African Art, Washington DC; New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York City; Johannesburg Biennial, South Africa.
- 2017: Treasures of Islam In Africa From Timbuktu to Zanzibar, Institut Du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
- 2017: These Moments", Morton Fine Art, Washington, DC
- 2016: "Drawing Memory", Sixfold Symmetry, Pattern in Art and Science, Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York
- 2015: Portraits: A solo exhibition by Victor Ekpuk, Sulger-Buel Lovell Gallery, Surrey Row, London (29 September – 24 October)[9]
- 2014: Auto-Graphics: Recent Drawings by Victor Ekpuk, Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (24 January – 27 July)
- 2013: Reminiscences and Current Musings, Morton Fine Art, Washington DC, USA (13 September – 8 October)
- 2013: Drawing Memories, Turchin Center for Art, Appalachian State University, North Carolina, USA
- 2011: Drawing Metaphors, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA
- 2009: Of Lines and Life, The Richard F. Brush Gallery, University of St. Lawrence, Canton, New York
- 2009: Victor Ekpuk, Long View Gallery, Washington DC, USA
- 2008: Open Studio, Thami Mnyele Foundation, Amsterdam, The Netherlands[10]
- 2006: Drawing From Within, Galerie 23, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- 2005: Storylines: Drawings of Victor Ekpuk, Montgomery College, College Park, Maryland, USA
- 2004: Trans/Script: The Art of Victor Ekpuk, Brandeis University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- 1998: Songs, 18th Street Arts Complex, Santa Monica, California, USA. (Sponsored by The Rockefeller Foundation, UNESCO-ASCHBERG Bursaries for Artists and 18th Street Arts Complex International Circle)
- 1995: Windsongs, French Cultural Center, Lagos, Nigeria
References[]
- ^ "NIGERIA. Nigerian artist Victor Ekpuk lands in Virginia", Artmap, 9 September 2011.
- ^ "Victor Ekpuk: I am trying to create contemporary sacred objects", AfricaServer, 13 March 2008.
- ^ Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi, "Memory is central to Victor Ekpuk's artistic practice. It encompasses the received, appropriated, lived, and imagined", Contemporary And, 2013.
- ^ Jessica Bailey, "Victor Ekpuk", Akala, 2010.
- ^ "Victor Ekpuk – artist", Seeds and Fruit, 24 September 2009.
- ^ -. "Ade Olufeko/Visual Colabo Q&A". Diaspora Quarterly. Retrieved 2 June 2018.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
- ^ "Victor Ekpuk". Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
- ^ "Auto-Graphics: Recent Drawings by Victor Ekpuk", Krannert Art Gallery, 2014.
- ^ "Portraits: A solo exhibition by Victor Ekpuk", Artslink.
- ^ Daphne Pappers, "Victor Ekpuk resident at the Thami Mnyele Foundation", The Power of Culture, February 2008.
External links[]
- Victor Ekpuk (Official studio website)
- "Victor Ekpuk A picture worth a thousand words"
- 1964 births
- Living people
- American people of Nigerian descent
- Nigerian artists
- American contemporary painters
- Obafemi Awolowo University alumni
- Artists from Washington, D.C.
- Painters from Washington, D.C.