Adjani Okpu-Egbe

Born in Kumba, Cameroon in 1979, lives and work in London, UK. As a community and socio-politically engaged art practitioner, scholar, public intellectual and activist, Cameroonian-British artist Adjani Okpu-Egbe believes that artists have an inherent social contract entailing them to dedicate aspects of their work towards shedding light on issues affecting their immediate and wider communities, while celebrating initiatives that positively impact them. Thus, social commentary and themes referencing African American, African and African diasporic histories, philosophies, iconographies, anthropologies, sociologies, music, mythologies and everyday life are recurrent in his work.

Okpu-Egbe’s practice is multifaceted, interdisciplinary, and powerfully engaging. He infuses personal experience into expressive, harmonious colours, inventive symbolism, expansive experimentation with materials and exploration of themes often grounded in rigorous research. Known for his layered visual language and abstracted figures he refers to as "manimals", his cross-demographic shaping of cultural thought is far-reaching, as testified by his constellation of three works; An Allegorical Conglomeration of Origins and Invitabilities, The Premonition of Ngarbuh, and Fortitude, exhibited at the 36th Bienal de São Paulo. Furthermore, the biennial marks a pivotal point as the inaugural institutional recognition of the artist’s practice in Latin America.

Adjani Okpu-Egbe holds a master's degree in Contemporary Art Practice from the Royal College of Art, (RCA), London. The inaugural recipient of the Ritzau Art Prize, he has exhibited at the International Studio and Curatorial Programme, ISCP New York, Tate Modern, London, Savvy Contemporary, Berlin, Kunstpalast Museum, Düsseldorf, Kunstverein Museum Braunschweig, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and the Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion, Ibirapuera Park, for the 36th Bienal de São Paulo.