Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s collaged images offer new perspective on the “African experience”

Date
10 October 2016

On first glance Los Angeles-based artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s paintings appear simply constructed, depicting domestic and mundane scenes of herself, her family, friends and couples. But the flat perspective and texture is achieved through multiple layers of collage and drawings that offer an alternative portrait.

Her materials reference her upbringing in Nigeria (where she lived until she was 16), with images derived from Nigerian pop culture and fabrics with the faces of people from her family’s weddings. These allusions and layers take her work far beyond the everyday and offer a deeper narrative which aims to “counter generalisations about African experience”. Speaking to The Guardian, the artist highlights how the banal is just as present in the minds of people living in Africa as the scenes of crises and turmoil outsiders are presented with by the media.

A show at Victoria Miro has just opened featuring a new body of Njideka’s work. Portals is her first solo European exhibition and alludes to the windows and doorways we view the artist’s social scenes through.

Beautifully composed, Njideka’s figures look past the viewer, but despite this inferred distance her work still feels extremely personal. This is highlighted through Njideka’s process which she describes as “labour intensive”. She explains: “All the decisions, like where to place things, what colour to use, that takes a lot of time. I like physical things, I like to have the drawings in front of me and move things around.”

Njideka’s exhibition Portals is on now at Victoria Miro, London until 5 November 2016.

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Njideka Akunyli Crosby: Ike Ya. Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Njideka Akunyili Crosby

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Njideka Akunyili Crosby: The Twain Shall Meet. Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Njideka Akunyili Crosby

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Njideka Akunyili Crosby: Grandmother’s Parlour. Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Njideka Akunyili Crosby

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Njideka Akunyili Crosby: Mother and Child. Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Njideka Akunyili Crosby

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Njideka Akunyili Crosby: The Beautyful Ones Series #5. Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Njideka Akunyili Crosby

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Njideka Akunyili Crosby: Garden, Thriving. Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Njideka Akunyili Crosby

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Njideka Akunyili Crosby: See Through. Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London © Njideka Akunyili Crosby

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About the Author

Rebecca Fulleylove

Rebecca Fulleylove is a freelance writer and editor specialising in art, design and culture. She is also senior writer at Creative Review, having previously worked at Elephant, Google Arts & Culture, and It’s Nice That.

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