Joy Labinjo

Joy Labinjo is a British–Nigerian artist based in London, England. Born in 1994, she is known for her large colorful figure paintings with flattened perspective that take inspiration from her collection of old family photos, found photos and historical archives. Her paintings usually explore themes of culture, identity, race and belonging through her depictions of Black individuals and families in everyday situations while also drawing from her experiences growing up as a British-Nigerian woman in the U.K.

Labinjo received her BFA degree at Newcastle University in 2017 and received the Woon Art Prize in the same year, which led to her being represented by Tiwani Contemporary. In 2020, she started her MFA at the University of Oxford and a residency at the Breeder Gallery in Athens, Greece.

In 2021, Labinjo was commissioned to create a piece for Art on the Underground. From November of the same year, Brixton Underground station displayed her piece 5 More Minutes.

Early life and education Joy Labinjo was born in 1994,

Labinjo moved to Newcastle upon Tyne to continue her education

Career

Early career Labinjo won the Woon art prize, which awarded her a 12-month residency at Baltic29 and £20,000, Pieces such as The Elders, Visiting Great Grandma and Untitled (a portrait of a younger version of Labinjo and her aunt) were exhibited.

In October 2019, Tiwani Contemporary dedicated their booth at the Frieze Art Fair in London to Labinjo and her work. However, with the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests happening at the height of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, she continued creating work that highlighted and discussed the black experience but now had themes dealing with racism and political commentary.

In October 2020 Labinjo started her MFA at the University of Oxford, and in December of that year Tiwani Contemporary presented another exhibition of her work for Art Basel Miami Beach OVR, the first time Labinjo presented work in the United States. The work focused on Black British historical figures, most notably a portrait of Sarah Forbes Bonetta, the Egbado princess sold into slavery who later became Queen Victoria's goddaughter. It included a number of nude self-portraits as a response to how policed she felt over her body when visiting Nigeria. The exhibition included works such as An 18th-Century Family (now Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge),Ode to Olaudah Equiano, Olaudah Equiano and Ignatius Sancho.

Awards

Woon Art Prize – 2017

Exhibitions

Recollections – November–December 2018, Tiwani Contemporary Gallery Joy Labinjo: Our histories cling to us – October 2019 – February 2020, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art The Elephant in the Room – September–October 2020, The Breeder art gallery, Athens, Greece. Art Basel Miami Beach OVR – December 2020 Art on the Underground – November 2021 – November 2022, 5 More Minutes was displayed in Brixton Underground station. Full Ground – February–May 2022, Tiwani Contemporary, Lagos. Ode to Olaudah Equiano – March–July 2022, Chapter Gallery, Wales.