Chioma Ebinama
CHIOMA EBINAMA BORN 1988, USA
LIVES AND WORKS BETWEEN LAGOS AND ATHENS
Chioma Ebinama is a Nigerian-American artist interested in how animism, mythology, and precolonial philosophies present a space to articulate a vision of freedom outside of Western social and political paradigms. Her practice is centered around watercolors on paper, which explore drawing and visual narrative as a meditative practice and tool for self-liberation. Her work is influenced by a myriad of sources, from West African cosmology, to folk art of the global South, to the visual language of Western religion and Eastern spiritual traditions. This collision of aesthetics is indicative of Ebinama’s nomadic life, where in her travels, she has collaborated with local artists to make textiles, sculptures, and wearable art.
Ebinama has mounted solo exhibitions at Catinca Tabacaru in New York City (2018), Boys’ Quarters Project Space in Port Harcourt, Nigeria (2019), Fortnight Institute NYC (2020), and The Breeder in Athens (2020). In 2021, she will mount projects with Catinca Tabacaru in Bucharest, Maureen Paley in London, and the Musée d’Art Contemporain de la Haute-Vienne in France. Her work has been acquired by foundations and collections internationally, and makes part of the permanent collection of the Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM).
Catinca Tabacaru Gallery represents Chioma Ebinama in collaboration with Fortnight Institute.
BORN 1988, MARYLAND, USA
NIGERIAN; CURRENTLY LIVES AND WORKS IN ATHENS
EDUCATION
- 2016
- School of Visual Arts – MFA Illustration as Visual Essay
- 2010
- Boston College – BFA Sociology Chestnut Hill, MA
MUSEUM & BIENNIAL EXHIBITIONS
- 2021
Musée d’art contemporain de la Haute-Vienne (forthcoming)
- 2020
Never Done: 100 Years of Women in Politics and Beyond, The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York
- 2018
- In a Silent Way, Dak’Art Biennial Off-Site, Dakar, Senegal; Co-Curators: Bisi Silvia & Stephanie Baptist
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
- 2021
Maureen Paley, London (forthcoming)
Galeria Catinca Tabacaru, Bucharest- 2020
Leave The Thorns And Take The Rose, The Breeder, Athens
Now I only believe in… Love, Fortnight Institute, New York- 2019
mammywater, BAF Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Anunu: Notes on the Divine Feminine, Boys’ Quarters Project Space, Port Harcourt, Nigeria; Curator: Zina Saro Wiwa- 2018
- Gods of the Wilderness, IAMISIGO Showroom, Lagos, Nigeria; Curator: Bubu Ogisi
penumbras, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, New York; Curator: Raphael Guilbert
Ritual For A New Direction, SPRING/BREAK Art Show, Curator: Raphael Guilbert, New York, NY
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
- 2021
- This Point is Exactly Midway Between Two Other Points, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Brooklyn; Curators: Brooke Tomiello and Paul Keefe
- 2020
Alien Landscape, 303 Gallery, New York
Ambra Nera, The Breeder, Athens- 2019
Crossing The Sands Art Exhibition, Governor’s Island, Nolan Park 10; Curated by the West Harlem Art Fund
Playground, Dotfiftyone Gallery, Miami; Curators: Veronica Flom & Camilo Godoy
Interior Landscapes, Assembly Room, New York; Curators: Natasha Becker, Paola Gallio, Yulia Topichy
Proceso-Progreso, La Salita, New York; Curators: Elena K Gonzalez & Diego Anaya
BOOKS / PUBLICATIONS
- 2022
Illustrations, Emile and the Field, Author: Kevin Young, Random House Children’s Books, Make Me A World (imprint) (Upcoming)
- 2019
Essay, The Pink Book, Author: Kaye Blegvad, Chronicle Books
Cover art, Girl, Author: Edna O’Brien,Farrar, Straus & Giroux
RESIDENCIES
- 2019
- pocoapoco A.I.R., Oaxaca, Mexico
Studio 401 New York A.I.R., Brooklyn, NY - 2018
- 16 by 16 / A.I.R., Lagos, Nigeria
Canal Street Market Residency, New York
AWARDS
- 2016
- Silver Medal, 3×3 Magazine International Illustration
SVA Alumni Illustration Award - 2015
- Joan Coyne Illustration Award
- 2014
- Joan Coyne Illustration Award
COLLECTIONS
Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM)
ILHAM Foundation, Kuala Lumpur, Malasiya
Tschabalala Self, New York
Chioma Ebinama Acquisition by
Jorge Pérez Collection Miami
Anwulili made us in Her likeness (Conception sequence) & Our Conception (2018)
October 2020