Osi Audu

Works

Osi Audu: Masked Head (Calm)

Masked Head (Calm)

Drawing

2022

Pastel and yarn on paper (mounted on canvas)

137,2 x 152,4 cm

54 x 60 in

Osi Audu: Masked Head (Invincible)

Masked Head (Invincible)

Drawing

2022

Pastel and yarn on paper (mounted on canvas)

137,2 x 152,4 cm

54 x 60 in

Osi Audu: Masked Head (Happy)

Masked Head (Happy)

Drawing

2022

Pastel and yarn on paper (mounted on canvas)

116,8 x 121,9 cm

46 x 48 in

Osi Audu: Masked Head (Fertility)

Masked Head (Fertility)

Drawing

2022

Pastel and yarn on paper (mounted on canvas)

56 x 77,5 cm

22 x 30 1/2 in

Osi Audu: Masked Head (Wisdom)

Masked Head (Wisdom)

Drawing

2022

Pastel and yarn on paper (mounted on canvas)

56 x 76,8 cm

22 x 30 1/4 in

Osi Audu: Masked Head (Strong)

Masked Head (Strong)

Drawing

2022

Pastel and yarn on paper (mounted on canvas)

38,1 x 38,1 cm

15 x 15 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait (Brave)

Self-Portrait (Brave)

Sculpture

2022

Spray-painted steel

40,6 x 41,3 x 35,6 cm

16 x 16 1/4 x 14 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait (Happy)

Self-Portrait (Happy)

Sculpture

2022

Spray-painted steel

38,1 x 33 x 31,8 cm

15 x 13 x 12 1/2 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait (Excited)

Self-Portrait (Excited)

Sculpture

2022

Spray-painted steel

38,1 x 40,6 x 34,9 cm

15 x 16 x 13 3/4 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait, with a Yoruba Hairstyle

Self-Portrait, with a Yoruba Hairstyle

Sculpture

2021

Spray-painted steel

48,3 x 27,9 x 25,4 cm

19 1/2 x 11 1/2 x 10 1/2 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait, Red Cap Chief I

Self-Portrait, Red Cap Chief I

Sculpture

2021

Spray-painted steel

38,1 x 35,6 x 29,2 cm

15 x 14 x 11 1/2 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait, after an Egungun Headdress

Self-Portrait, after an Egungun Headdress

Sculpture

2021

Spray-painted steel

33 x 43,2 x 26,7 cm

13 x 17 x 10 1/2 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait, Red Cap Chief II

Self-Portrait, Red Cap Chief II

Sculpture

2021

Spray-painted steel

31,8 x 38,1 x 29,2 cm

12 1/2 x 15 x 11 1/2 in

Osi Audu: The Night is Bright with Stars

The Night is Bright with Stars

Drawing

1998

Pastel on paper

56 x 76,2 cm

22 x 30 in

Osi Audu: Tubular Head

Tubular Head

Drawing

1998

Pastel on paper

76,2 x 56 cm

30 x 22 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait after Dogon Bird Mask

Self-Portrait after Dogon Bird Mask

Painting

2018

Acrylic on canvas

28 x 38 cm

11 x 15 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait after Dogon Bird Mask

Self-Portrait after Dogon Bird Mask

Painting

2018

Acrylic on canvas

56 x 78,8 cm

22 x 31 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait after Gelede Headdress

Self-Portrait after Gelede Headdress

Painting

2018

Acrylic on canvas

56 x 78,8 cm

22 x 31 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait with Egungun Hairstyle

Self-Portrait with Egungun Hairstyle

Drawing

2018

Graphite and pastel on paper (mounted on canvas)

56 x 78,8 cm

22 x 31 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait, The Bearded II

Self-Portrait, The Bearded II

Drawing

2018

Graphite and pastel on paper (mounted on canvas)

56 x 78,8 cm

22 x 31 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait, Yoruba Head

Self-Portrait, Yoruba Head

Painting

2018

Acrylic on canvas

56 x 78,8 cm

22 x 31 in

Osi Audu: Double Self-Portrait, after Ere Ibeji Twins

Double Self-Portrait, after Ere Ibeji Twins

Drawing

2019

Graphite and pastel on paper (mounted on canvas)

38 x 76,2 cm

15 x 30 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait after BaKuba Mask

Self-Portrait after BaKuba Mask

Painting

2019

Acrylic on canvas

38 x 56 cm

15 x 22 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait after Dogon Bird Mask

Self-Portrait after Dogon Bird Mask

Drawing

2019

Graphite and pastel on paper (mounted on canvas)

28 x 38 cm

11 x 15 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait after Osanyin

Self-Portrait after Osanyin

Painting

2019

Acrylic on canvas

38 x 56 cm

15 x 22 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait after Tabwa Head

Self-Portrait after Tabwa Head

Drawing

2019

Graphite and pastel on paper (mounted on canvas)

28 x 38 cm

11 x 15 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait after Tabwa Head

Self-Portrait after Tabwa Head

Painting

2019

Acrylic on canvas

30,5 x 56 cm

12 x 22 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait, Untitled

Self-Portrait, Untitled

Drawing

2019

Graphite and pastel on paper (mounted on canvas)

28 x 38 cm

11 x 15 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait with Egungun Hairstyle

Self-Portrait with Egungun Hairstyle

Painting

2019

Acrylic on canvas

122 x 152,5 cm

48 x 60 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait after Egungun Headdress

Self-Portrait after Egungun Headdress

Drawing

2019

Graphite and pastel on paper (mounted on canvas)

38 x 56 cm

15 x 22 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait with Yoruba Hairstyle

Self-Portrait with Yoruba Hairstyle

Painting

2019

Acrylic on canvas

122 x 152,5 cm

48 x 60 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait, The Bearded

Self-Portrait, The Bearded

Painting

2019

Acrylic on canvas

28 x 38 cm

11 x 15 in

Osi Audu: The Night is Bright with Stars I

The Night is Bright with Stars I

Drawing

2019

Pastel on paper

56 x 76,2 cm

22 x 30 in

Osi Audu: The Night is Bright with Stars II

The Night is Bright with Stars II

Drawing

2019

Pastel on paper (mounted on canvas)

28 x 38 cm

11 x 15 in

Osi Audu: The Night is Bright with Stars III

The Night is Bright with Stars III

Drawing

2019

Pastel on paper (mounted on canvas)

56 x 78,8 cm

22 x 31 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait, Happy Dance I

Self-Portrait, Happy Dance I

Painting

2020

Acrylic on canvas

28 x 38 cm

11 x 15 in

Osi Audu: Self-Portrait, Happy Dance II

Self-Portrait, Happy Dance II

Painting

2020

Acrylic on canvas

28 x 38 cm

11 x 15 in


Bio

Osi Audu was born in Nigeria in 1956 and studied at the University of Ife (Nigeria), where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with first class honors in 1980. He went on to study at the University of Georgia in Athens (USA) and earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting and Drawing in 1984. In 1994, he earned a postgraduate certificate in education from the University of Kent in Canterbury (UK).

Osi Audu maintains a visual language of geometric shapes and a palette of monochromatic blacks, whites, greys and primary colors to explore the tangible and intangible aspects of the self and self-consciousness. His techniques draw from ancient Yoruba philosophies and modern Western approaches, such as the idea that objects can contain, channel and transform natural forces. Following the Yoruba concept of Ori Inu ("the inner head"), Audu's works - many of them displayed as a series of "self-portraits" - draw our attention to the artist's focus on the head as a signifier of consciousness and as an object of self and self-knowing.

Audu's work has shown in solo and group exhibitions worldwide, including Germany, Nigeria, Japan, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. He has shown at prestigious institutions such as Iwalewa-Haus (1995), the British Museum (2003), the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of African Art (2006) and the Museo Di Palazzo Grimani during the Venice Biennale (2015). In 2018, he was the recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant. In addition to his longstanding artistic practice, Audu also works as a curator, most recently organizing the traveling group exhibition "Abstract Minded: Works by Six Contemporary African Artists" that showed at the N'Namdi Center for Contemporary Art in Detroit, the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art in New York and the August Wilson Center in Pittsburgh.

His work is in numerous private and public collections including the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of African Art, the British Museum, the Horniman Museum, the Newark Museum, the Hood Museum, Iwalewa-Haus and Nigeria's National Gallery. Osi Audu currently resides in New York.

Solo Exhibitions

2021

2019

2018

2016

2014

2011

2006

2003

2000

1999

1998

1997

1996

1995

1994

1989

1987

Group Exhibitions

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2015

2014

2010

2009

2006

2005

2003

2002

1999

1998

1997

1996

1995

1994

1992

1991

1990

1985

1984


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