ROOM NUMBER
2A39 & 2A40

CONTACT
+974 4457 8421

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Victor Ehikhamenor

Artist-in-Residence

Victor Ehikhamenor is a Nigerian-American multidisciplinary visual artist and writer known for his vibrant and incisive works that engage with African cultural heritage, its resonance within the global African diaspora, and the postcolonial politics of his native Nigeria.

Ehikhamenor’s work employs unexpected techniques of making and unmaking, of building images and shapes, and or constructing figurative works from complex, illegible ancient scripts, tears and holes, Catholic symbols — to create portraits of African people and depict African spaces. Using materials and iconography that embrace the traditions and histories of Africa while integrating elements that allude to the continent’s colonial past and Nigeria’s complex geopolitical position as an oil-producing nation, the scenes and figures depicted are often figurative and a mix of symbols that straddle his Benin Kingdom traditions and Catholic upbringing. This duality builds narratives that comment on the complex cultural and political reality of Nigerians in their private and public lives, both historically and today.

Ehikhamenor’s work has been exhibited worldwide, including at the first Nigerian Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017. He has also been included in solo and group exhibitions at museums, galleries, and biennials including the Pinakothek Der Moderne (Munich, Germany), Fondacion Blachere (France), Lehmann Maupin Gallery (New York), St. Paul’s Cathedral, (London, UK) Tyburn Gallery (London, UK); Rele Gallery (Lagos, Nigeria); Retro Africa (Abuja, Nigeria) the 5th Mediations Biennale (Poznan, Poland), the 12th Dak’art Biennale (Dakar, Senegal),Stellenbosch Triennale, (South Africa) Biennale Jogja XIII (Yogyakarta, Indonesia) etc.

Ehikhamenor holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and Literature from Ambrose Alli University, Nigeria and an MFA in fiction from the University of Maryland, USA. Ehikhamenor is also a writer and photographer, chronicling life in Africa and taking a sharp political stance on issues of political corruption and the African continent’s role in global politics. He is a convener in the cultural space broadly, as the founder of a creative residency venue in Lagos, Angels and Muses, and the founder of Ink Not Blood, a peace initiative designed to discourage violence during political elections in Nigeria. He has received numerous awards for both his writing and art, as well as fellowships from organizations such as the Rockefeller Foundation, Civitella Ranieri Foundation, the Nirox Foundation, and the Norman Mailer Center. He is currently based between Lagos, Nigeria and the United States.