b. 1991
b. 1991
Born in Columbia, Missouri, Anthony Olubunmi Akinbola, is a first-generation American raised by Nigerian parents in the United States and Nigeria. His layered, richly colored compositions celebrate and signify the distinct cultures that shape his identity. The artist’s signature Camouflage paintings, consisting of single and multi-panel works, utilize the ubiquitous du-rag as their primary material. Universally available and possessed of significant cultural context, the du-rag represents for Akinbola a readymade object that engages the conceptual strategies of Marcel Duchamp and other significant artistic predecessors. Throughout his work Akinbola unpacks the rituals and histories connecting Africa and America, addressing the power of fetishization around cultural objects.
Anthony Olubunmi Akinbola was recently selected for The Artsy Vanguard 2022, an annual feature spotlighting the most promising artists working today. In September 2022, Akinbola was awarded the Silver Arts Project residency in New York and in 2019, he was awarded the Van Lier Fellowship and named the eighth Museum of Arts and Design Artist Fellow, which resulted in a solo exhibition at the museum. Akinbola created a monumental wall collage for The Queens Museum in 2018 and was selected for the Anderson Ranch Art Center Residency in 2017. His work has been featured in group exhibitions at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, MI; The Queens Museum, NY; the Bronx River Art Center, NY; The Zuckerman Museum of Art, GA; and The Verbeke Foundation, Belgium, amongst others. His work will be included in a group exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Art in March 2023. Following his exhibition at the Museum of Art and Design, NY in 2020, Akinbola mounted a significant solo exhibition in early 2021 at the Kohler Arts Center, WI. Akinbola received a BA in communications and media from SUNY Purchase College. His work is included in the Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI; The Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection; The Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY; Ogunquit Museum of American Art, Ogunquit, ME; Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH; Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY; and Zabludowicz Collection, London, United Kingdom.
Anthony Akinbola
Camouflage “Rockaway”, 2024
durags on wood panel
72 x 72 inches (182.9 x 182.9 cm)
(AAk-45)
Anthony Akinbola
chameleon, 2023
signed by artist, verso
durags, acrylic on wood panel
48 x 48 inches (121.9 x 121.9 cm)
(AAk-35)
Anthony Akinbola
Camouflage “Rolling Green”, 2022
durags on wood panel
48 x 48 inches (121.9 x 121.9 cm)
(AAk-42)
Anthony Akinbola
Midas Touch, 2022
signed, titled and dated by artist, verso
durags, acrylic on wood panel
101 x 98 inches (256.5 x 248.9 cm)
(AAk-2)
Anthony Akinbola
Moby Dick, 2022
signed by artist on label, verso
durags on wood panel
48 x 96 inches (121.9 x 243.8 cm)
(AAk-9)
Anthony Akinbola
Lift Every Voice, 2022
durags, acrylic on wood panel
panel: 72 x 72 inches (182.9 x 182.9 cm)
overall: 149 x 73 1/2 inches (378.5 x 186.7 cm)
(AAk-12)
Anthony Akinbola
Untitled, 2022
signed and dated by artist, verso
durags on aluminum frame
36 x 36 inches (91.4 x 91.4 cm)
(AAk-14)
Anthony Akinbola
Duckhorn, 2022
signed and dated by artist, verso
durags on aluminum frame
48 x 48 inches (121.9 x 121.9 cm)
(AAk-15)
Anthony Akinbola
Camouflage Study "Blue", 2022
signed by artist on label, verso
durags, acrylic on wood panel
panel: 36 x 36 inches (91.4 x 91.4 cm)
overall: 67 1/4 x 36 inches (170.8 x 91.4 cm)
(AAk-16)
Anthony Akinbola
Jubilee, 2021
Durags and acrylic on wood panel
96 × 108 × 3 in. (243.8 × 274.3 × 7.6 cm)
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Purchased with funds contributed by the Young Collectors Council, with additional funds contributed by Danny Mapes 2022.40
© Anthony Olubunmi Akinbola
Photo: Ariel Ione Williams © Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation
Anthony Akinbola
Blade Trinity, 2021
durags on wood panel
48 x 48 inches (121.9 x 121.9 cm)
(AAk-27)
Anthony Akinbola
White Bronco, 2022
signed and dated by artist, verso
durags, acrylic on wood panel
panel: 72 x 72 inches (182.9 x 182.9 cm)
overall: 110 x 72 inches (279.4 x 182.9 cm)
(AAk-11)
PBS Table for All, Season 2 Episode 7
Acclaimed Nigerian mixed media artist Anthony Akinbola gives a studio tour and art lesson.