Victor Ekpuk

CV

Victor Ekpuk

1964, Uyo, Nigeria
Lives and works in Washington DC

Education
1988  Bachelor of Fine & Applied art, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria

Solo Exhibitions
2009  
Of Lines and Life,  The Richard F. Brush Gallery, University of St. Lawrence, Canton, New York, USA
Victor Ekpuk, Long View Gallery, Washington DC, USA

2008  
Open Studio, Thami Mnyele Foundation, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2006   
Drawing From Within, Galerie 23, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2005   
Storylines: Drawings of Victor Ekpuk, Montgomery College, College Park, Maryland, USA

2004   
Trans/Script: The Art of Victor Ekpuk, Brandeis University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

2001   
Manuscript Series (Ancient Symbols/Contemporary Forms), Parish Gallery, Washington D.C., USA

1998   
Songs, 18th Street Arts Complex, Santa Monica, California, USA (Sponsored by The Rockefeller Foundation, UNESCO-ASCHBERG Bursaries for Artists and 18^thStreet Arts Complex International Circle)

1995   
Windsongs, French Cultural Center, Lagos, Nigeria

Group Exhibitions
2010
Global Africa Project, Museum of Art and Design, New York, USA
International Poster and Graphic Art Festival of Chaumont, France
Them-and-Us, Hudiksvallsgatan, Stockholm, Sweden

2009    
Unbounded : New Art for  A New Century, Newark Museum, New Jersey, USA

2008     
Africa Now!, The World Bank, Washington DC, USA
Beyond Boundaries – mapping currents for the 3rd Guangzhou Triennial, Guangzhou, China

2007     
Inscribing Meanings, National Museum for African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington (DC), USA
Fowler Museum, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA
Art in Red Light, Oude Kerk, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2006      
Inspired by Spinoza, Vrije Akademie, Den Haag, The Netherlands

2003-05
Black President: The Art and Legacy of Fela Anikulapo Kuti,
Traveling exhibition: New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, New York, USA
                - The Barbican Galleries, London, UK
                - Yerba Buena Center for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, California, USA
                -  Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

2001    
Artexts, Jamaica Center for Art and Learning, Jamaica, New York, USA
Kunst Rai, Amsterdam, Nederland

1995   
Africus, 1st Johannesburg Biennale, Johannesburg, South Africa
Works in selected permanent Collections
Smithsonian Institution Nation Museum of African Art, Washington DC, USA
Newark Museum, New Jersey, USA
The World Bank, Washington DC, USA
University of Maryland Art Collection, USA

Grants, Residencies & Artist lectures
2010     
Falk Visiting Artist: University of North Carolina, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA    
Artist Lecture: University of North Carolina, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

2009     
Artist Lecture: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum for African Art, Washington DC, USA

2007     
Artist Residency, Thami Mnyele Foundation, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

1998     
Artist Lecture:  Pasadena College of Art and Design, Pasadena, California, USA
Artist-in-Residence 18th Street Art Complex, Santa Monica, California, USA. (Sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation,   UNESCO-ASCHBERG Bursaries for Artists, and the 18th Street Art Complex)

Selected Bibliography
A. Books/Monographs
2010     
Contemporary African Art Since 1980, by Okwui Enwezor, Chika Okeke

2007      
Inscribing Meaning: Writing and Graphic Systems in African Art, by Christine Mullen Kreamer (Author), Mary Nooter Roberts (Author),
Elizabeth  Harney  (Author), Allyson Purpura (Author)

2005     
Black President, The Art & Legacy of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Trevo Schoonmaker
Contemporary Art In Nigeria & Ghana, Ester Adeyemi (ed.), Friedrich Reinhardt Veriag publication

2004     
Afrikan Alphabets, Saki Mafindikwa, Mark Batty Publishers

2002     
The Nsukka Artists and Nigeria Contemporary Art, Simon Ottenberg (ed.), (A publication of National Museum of African Art,                Smithsonian Institution)

B. Journals/Internet publications
2010     
ARTNews November 10 2010 edition

2005     
Storylines/Drawings of Victor Ekpuk, by Francine Farr

2004   
“Black President: The Legacy of Fela Anikulapo Kuti” by Sarah Adams, African Arts,  (Los Angelis), spring, 2004
Trans/Scripts: The Art of Victor Ekpuk by Mark Auslander

2000     
Manuscript Series: Ancient Symbols/Contemporary Forms-Ijele: Art e-journal of the African World. (ed.) Prof. Nkiru Nzeogwu

1999     
Review-NKA Journal of African Contemporary Art, No. 10. New York

1998     
Disparate Artistic Vision, dART International, Vol.2 No. 1, Los Angeles

1995     
My Sources, Glendora Review, a journal of Contemporary African Art, Volume 1 No. 2

C. Newspapers and Magazines
2007     
Power Behind The Written Word by Michael O’Sullivan    Washington Post, (Washington DC), May 18, 2007

2006     
Text: Reading Between the Lines by Michael O’Sullivan, Washington Post,  (Washington DC), April 7, 2006
 

Biografie

Victor Ekpuk baseert zich in zijn tekeningen op Nsibidi, een inheemse Afrikaanse taal die is opgebouwd uit grafische symbolen en codes. Geïnspireerd door deze oude geschriften brengt hij vormen terug tot de essentie en tekent nieuwe symbolen en codes ‘scripts’ die hedendaagse ervaringen weergeven. Nsibidi tekens en deze ‘scripts’ vormen de achtergrond van zijn composities. Symbolen worden abstracte vormen die eerder worden gevoeld dan gelezen.

The central theme of his work is the exploration of relationships, challenges and responses to changes that characterize the human condition. Drawing is a very important aspect of his art. In 2007 Ekpuk was an artist in residence at the Thami Mnyele Stichting in Amsterdam. He was utilizing his residency at the Thami Mnyele Foundation to explore drawing as an essence of expression