Odinakachi Okoroafor (b. 1989, Abia, Nigeria) is a mixed media artist who lives and works in Enugu, Nigeria. Using imagery from his childhood and community as point of departure, Okoroafor examines the Black figure through the lenses of daily life and social and political struggle. Barcode lines feature prominently in his compositions, appearing as clusters that comprise the figures of his painting’s featured subjects. Akin to scars physical and symbolic, these automated lines confront complex histories of the body as a commodity, both historically and in present-day contexts.
Okoroafor has recently exhibited at BLACK VOICES: Friend of My Mind, Ross-Sutton Gallery, New York (2021) and Next of KIN, Thought Pyramid Art Centre Ikoyi., Lagos (2020). Okoroafor was among the featured artists for the 2018 UNESCO X BBUZZart Project and was the second runner up in the Spanish Visual Arts Competition in 2018. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Image: Odinakachi Okoroafor, Flowery Couch, 2021 (detail). © Odinakachi Okoroafor. Portrait Odinakachi Okoroafor
