Joy Labinjo
Joy Labinjo’s large-scale figurative paintings often depict intimate scenes of historical and contemporary life, both real and imagined and often based on figures appearing in personal and archival imagery that include family photographs, found images and historical material. In the past, she has explored themes including but not limited to identity, political voice, power, Blackness, race, history, community and family and their role in contemporary experience.
Her work presents fresh and arresting compositions of colour, pattern and motifs: key signatures of Labinjo’s work. Fundamentally, at the heart of Labinjo’s practice is a bold interest in storytelling and ultimately, people’s lives. Exploring multiple modes of representation including abstraction, naturalism, flatness and graphic patterns, Labinjo’s ‘collage aesthetic’ comprises an eclectic visual vocabulary and mixed painterly techniques which echo her experience of multiple identities – growing up Black, British, Nigerian in the 90s and early 00s.
Labinjo was awarded the Woon Art Prize in 2017. Recent exhibitions include: Royal Academy (2020), Tiwani Contemporary (2020), The Breeder (2020), Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK (2019); Bloc Projects, Sheffield, UK (2019); Tiwani Contemporary, London, UK, (2018); Gallery North, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK (2018); Cafe Gallery Projects, London, UK (2018); Bonington Gallery, Nottingham, UK (2018); Goldtapped, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK (2018); Morley Gallery, London, UK (2018); Baltic 39, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK (2017); Hoxton Arches, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK (2017); The Holy Biscuit, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK (2017); FishBowl space, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK (2015); XL Gallery, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK (2013).
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Breakfast with Violet and Adam, 2020
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It has always been home, 2020
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Jenny and Louis, 2020
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Lady from Liverpool, 2020
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Sarah Forbes Bonetta, 2020
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What is the effect of colonisation?, 2020
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A Celebration of Sorts , 2019
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Family portrait, 2019
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Jane and Mary Jane, 2019
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Mum and Dad at a bar, 2019
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Talking into the Night, 2019
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Joy Labinjo, an artist making black lives visible
Rachel Spence, Financial Times, November 27, 2020 -
Shaznay Lewis celebrates 11 Black British trailblazers
Kemi Alemoru, GQ Style, November 14, 2020 -
Joy Labinjo: 'When I’m painting I feel happy and alive'
Kadish Morris, The Guardian, November 1, 2020 -
BBC Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
BBC, October 17, 2020 -
Joy Labinjo is setting a new benchmark for Black representation in painting
Mahoro Seward, i-D, July 30, 2020 -
Community Engagement: Joy Labinjo Interviewed by Rianna Jade Parker | Painting as storytelling.
Rianna Jade Parker, Bomb Magazine, February 20, 2020 -
These Emerging Black Artists Are the Future of Figurative Painting
Isis Davis-Marks, Artsy, February 11, 2020 -
Instagram, golden toilets, and the return of paint: how the art world changed this decade
Hettie Judah, iNews, December 30, 2019 -
Joy Labinjo’s Dynamic Process in Painting Her Family
Anna Souter, Hyperallergic, December 27, 2019 -
The Art Movements of the 2010s
Charlotte Jansen, Artsy, December 18, 2019 -
Paint it black: artists of colour breathing new life into 'inert' art form
Lanre Bakare , The Guardian, November 17, 2019 -
The Stylist: The latest exhibitions championing diversity in the art
Roxane Gay, The Stylist, November 6, 2019 -
Making Waves, The Antipodes, Hanne Orstavik, His Dark Materials, Joy Labinjo
Saturday Review, BBC Radio 4, November 2, 2019 -
10 art exhibitions to see in November
RA , November 1, 2019 -
Five black female and non-binary artists to follow on Instagram
Patricia Yaker Ekall, Art UK, October 29, 2019 -
Now Showing 318: The week’s top exhibitions
Jack Hutchinson, a-n News, October 28, 2019 -
Joy Labinjo, By The Grace of God reviewed, Alastair Sooke, actors doing other jobs
Front Row, BBC Radio 4, October 22, 2019 -
Paintings dominate Frieze London as buyers shun 'risky installations'
Lanre Bakare , The Guardian, October 8, 2019 -
Price Check! Here’s What Sold—and for How Much—at Frieze London and Frieze Masters 2019
Artnet News, October 7, 2019 -
What Sold at Frieze London
Benjamin Sutton, Artsy, October 7, 2019 -
What not to miss this weekend at Frieze London
Kathryn O'Regan, Sleek Magazine, October 4, 2019 -
Frieze London 2019 review – gags, tapestry and hardcore ceramic panda sex
Hettie Judah, The Guardian, October 3, 2019 -
The Art of London
Charlotte Jansen, The Culture Trip, October 1, 2019 -
Everything you need to know about Frieze London 2019
HETTIE JUDAH, Vogue, October 1, 2019