Von Lintel Gallery | Los Angeles

Adewumi is Nigerian born, but has lived in Arkansas since 2018. The culture shock of conservative America inspired Adewumi to use his art to give a voice to marginalized communities. Using graphite, charcoal, paint and collage his exquisitely crafted work depicts the resilience of Black women as they push back against trauma, sexism, inequality and racism.

Adewumi states: “With every piece of art, I produce a story, an opportunity to provide history, a new voice, and perspective for my audience. I believe in using my artistic gift as a conduit to share the stories of people and places living in different societies and cultures with a new context. My practice engages in a critical commentary of the past to learn and unlearn how history shapes our understanding of the present and, in turn, impacts our perception of the future. I see and understand the world through people—their faces, expressions, and gazes allow me to represent the often- overlooked faces of Black African immigrants across the diaspora.

Nigerian newspapers shaped my early knowledge about history and race, as well as stories from my great-grandparents. Those images were rich, powerful, and heroic. They embodied so much power while influencing how I see any black man or woman losing so much of their story, which must be investigated and how we are seen by the world today. Having so much rich culture and history but dismantled and kept away for a long time led me to create elegant iconic images that show the rich practices to tell the world about the future. My art takes on reconstructing the lost story, documenting the ideals of our history. Stereotypes and myths that have been created are challenged. I create a dialogue between the ideas of inclusion, culture, dignity, and consumption. And subjectivity by addressing the left-out cultures and traditions of any black race by challenging the history and untold stories, making space for the black race to tell the world about their story and history. “

Oluwatobi is a self-taught artist. He studied Computer Science at Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State Nigeria and earned a B.Sc. degree in 2010. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally since 2012.

Recently his work was acquired by The Bunker Artspace (private museum), West Palm Beach, FL