Adejoke Tugbiyele

Adejoke Tugbiyele is a multi-award-winning artist and activist born in Brooklyn, USA, to Nigerian parents. A U.S. Fulbright Scholar, she has garnered numerous prestigious awards, including the Grand Prix Leridon in 2019, the Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Grant in 2016, the William M. Phillips ’54 Scholarship for Best Figurative Sculpture in 2013, and the Amalie Rothschild ’34 Rinehart Awards in 2012.

Tugbiyele's artistic practice is deeply engaged with themes of race, gender, sexuality, class, economy, sex-politics, and religion. Her works bridge and layer historical and cultural ideas, examining how religion shapes our perception of the body and the subversive role spirituality can play in fostering self-love and acceptance.

Her artworks, which incorporate diverse mediums such as wire, natural fibers, bronze, fabric, and wood, result in intricately detailed 2D and 3D pieces, often integrated into performance art. Tugbiyele's work is featured in important corporate, public, and private collections, including The Brooklyn Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, the National Museum of African Art, and Credit Suisse Bank, among others.

In addition to her creative practice, Tugbiyele was a featured participant in the 2017 CultureSummit in Abu Dhabi and was recognized as one of the 100 Leading Global Thinkers in 2015. Her work has been extensively reviewed in leading publications, and she is frequently invited to contribute as a panelist in dialogues hosted by reputable institutions worldwide.

Tugbiyele received her Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the New Jersey Institute of Technology in 2002 and her Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2013. Through her multifaceted work, she continues to challenge and inspire conversations around critical social issues.