Toyin Ojih Odutola

To Wander Determined

Whitney Museum of American Art

New York, 99 Gansevoort Street

For her first solo museum exhibition in New York, Toyin Ojih Odutola presents an interconnected series of fictional portraits, chronicling the lives of two aristocratic Nigerian families.

Toyin Ojih Odutola (b. 1985), Pregnant, 2017. Charcoal, pastel and pencil on paper, 74 1/2 x 42 in. ©Toyin Ojih Odutola.  Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

Ojih Odutola creates intimate drawings that explore the complexity and malleability of identity. Depicted in her distinctive style of intricate mark-making, her sumptuous compositions reimagine the genre and traditions of portraiture.

Toyin Ojih Odutola (b. 1985), Years Later - Her Scarf, 2017. Charcoal, pastel and pencil on paper, 72 x 42 in. ©Toyin Ojih Odutola.  Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

Rendered life-size in charcoal, pastel, and pencil, Ojih Odutola’s figures appear enigmatic and mysterious, set against luxurious backdrops of domesticity and leisure. They, and the worlds they inhabit, are informed by the artist’s own array of inspirations, which range from art history to popular culture to experiences of migration and dislocation. Highly attentive to detail and the nuances of space, class, and color—whether of palette or skin—Ojih Odutola continues her examinations of narrative, authenticity, and representation.

Toyin Ojih Odutola: To Wander Determined presents a significant new body of work alongside a small selection of earlier works, produced in the last year.