Odili Donald Odita

 
 
 
Born in Enugu, Nigeria
Lives and works in Philadelphia and New York



[ EDUCATION ]

1990   MFA, Bennington College, Bennington, VT
1988   BFA, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH



[ AWARDS / HONORS / GRANTS ]

2007
   
The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Biennial Competition Award,
The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, New York, NY
2004
   
Residency Foundation Grant for African Artists,
Thami Mnyele Foundation, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2001
 
 
The Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant for Painting and Sculpture, New York, NY
2000
   
Nomination for Best Show of the Year for "Color Theory" at the Florence Lynch Gallery,
by the International Association of Art Critics in New York
ArtsLink Collaborative Projects Award in Warsaw, Poland for exhibition, "Here & Now"
1999
   
Reithalle Artist Residency, St. Gallen, Switzerland
1998
   
ART/OMI- International Artist Residency, Omi International Arts Center, Omi, NY
1994
   
Penny McCall Foundation Grant, New York, NY



[ SOLO EXHIBITIONS ]

2009
— One-Person Exhibition, Center for Contemporary Art, Turin, Italy
— Television, The Ulrich Museum at Wichita State University, KS

2008
— Double Edge, The Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
— Third Space, The Ramp Space, ICA, Philadelphia, PA

2007
— Equalizer, Studio Museum in Harlem, Project Room, New York, NY
— FLOW, Contemporary Art Center, CAC Kaplan Hall, Cincinnati, OH

2006
— Fusion, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY

2005
— Paradise, Wertz Contemporary, Atlanta, GA

2004
— The Third Eye, Haunch of Vension (Galerie Judin Belot), Zurich, Switzerland
— New Work, Galerie Schuster, Frankfurt, Germany, catalogue available
— Notes From Paradise, Florence Lynch Gallery, New York, NY

2003
— RESISTANCE, Matrix Art Project, Brussels, Belgium
— Transformer, Hospitalhof, Stuttgart, Germany
— New Work, Schmidt Contemporary Art, St. Louis, MO

2002
— Art Statements with Florence Lynch Gallery, Art Basel Miami Beach, FL
— New Work, Galerie Schuster & Scheuermann, Berlin, Germany
— New Work, Galerie Schuster, Frankfurt, Germany
— Interlude, WINTERGARTEN, Vienna, Austria, curated by Bettina Muller-Schelken
— New Works, Miami Art Museum, FL, curated by Cheryl Hartup

2001
— LIFE, Riva Gallery, New York, NY
— Paintings & Drawings, Florence Lynch Gallery, New York, NY, catalogue available

2000
— Transfers/Odyssey, Kunsthalle, St. Gallen, Switzerland, curated by Dorothea Strauss
— Passport, Jenn Joy Gallery, San Francisco, CA
— New Work, Hofstra University, Alex Rosenberg Art Gallery, Calkins Hall,Hempstead, NY

1999
— Color Theory, Florence Lynch Gallery, New York, NY
— The Invisible Empire, Gallery 101, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

1992
— The Jaws of Domesticity, der KIOSK, St. Gallen, Switzerland, catalogue available



[ SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS ]

2009
— Poised, Solomon Projects, Atlanta, GA
— A Walls Project: Split Landscapes, Culture Color, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA curated by Betti-Sue Hertz
— Contemporary Art of Africa and the African Diaspora, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA, curated by Carol Thompson, catalogue available

2008
— Paper Trail II: Passing Through Clouds, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, The Herbert and Mildred Lee Gallery, Waltham, MA, curated by Odili Donald Odita

2007
— 52nd Venice Biennale, International Art Exhibition, Think With The Senses, Feel With the Mind, Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy, curated by Robert Storr, catalogue available
— Summer 2007/8, The Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
— Tapping Currents: Contemporary African Art and the Diaspora, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, curated by Lisa Fanning
— The Color Line, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY; curated by Odili Donald Odita; catalogue available
— POST Painterly Abstraction, Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
— Exquisite Crisis and Encounters, Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU, New York, NY curated by Yong Soon Min

2006
— Ordering & Seduction, Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich, Switzerland, curated by Dorothea Strauss
— Distant Relatives, Relative Distance, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town; Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa, catalogue available
— The Beautiful Game, Roebling Hall, Brooklyn and New York, NY curated by Trevor Schoonmaker and Franklin Sirmans
— Holy Land: Diaspora and the Desert, Heard Museum of Native American Art, Phoenix, AZ, curated by Lara Taubman
— Nederland 1, Museum Gouda, Gouda, The Netherlands, curated by Tiong Ang
— Parallel Economies, Wertz Contemporary, Atlanta, GA

2005
— Round Leather Worlds, Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin, Germany, curated by Dorothea Strauss, catalogue available
— The Shape of Colour: Excursions in Colour Field Art, 1950-2005, Art Gallery of Ontario, Ontario, Canada curated by David Moos, catalogue available
— Surface Charge, Virginia Commonwealth University Museum, Richmond, VA, curated by Gregory Volk and Sabine Russ, catalogue available
— A Warlike People: Victims or Perpetrators, Monorchid Gallery, Phoenix, AZ, curated by Lara Taubman

2004
— UnStaged, Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, curated by Charlie Citron
— DAK'ART 2004 - Dakar Biennale of Contemporary African Art; North American representative in Diaspora section curated by Ivo Mesquita, catalogue available
— ANTHOLOGY OF ART, School of Fine Arts, Braunschweig; Visual Arts Department, University of Rennes; Art History Department, University of Budapest; Martin Gropius-Bau, Berlin; Zentrum fur Medienkunst, Karlsruh; Manifest/Symposium, Akademie der KŁnste, Berlin; the Neuhardenberg Foundation, Berlin; Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn, catalogue available
— Flipside, Artists Space, New York, NY curated by Katherine Carl and Fritzie Brown, catalogue available
— Visualizing Diaspora/Constructing Self, GASP, Boston, MA, curated by Magda Campos-Pons
— Transit: Abstracting the System, City Gallery at Chastain, Atlanta, GA
— Home Extension, University Art Museum, Albany, NY, curated by Gregory Volk and Sabine Russ, catalogue available

2003
— Fiction of Authenticity: Contemporary Africa Abroad, Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis, MO; Purnell Center for the Arts, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC; Blaffer Gallery, The Art Museum of the University of Houston, TX; curated by Shannon Fitzgerald & Tumelo Mosaka, catalogue available
— Black President, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA; Barbican Art — Galleries, London; Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH; curated by Trevor Schoonmaker, catalogue available
— After Matisse & Picasso, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, NY
— Art Positions with Kevin Bruk Gallery, Art Basel Miami Beach, Florida
— Yellow Pages, Turm Gallery, Helmstedt, Germany, curated by John Armleder & the 404 Team

2002
— Collection in Context, The Studio Museum of Harlem, New York, NY
— Miami Currents, Miami Art Museum, Miami, FL
— The Fields' Edge: Africa, Diaspora, Lens, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, curated by Rory Bester & Amanda Carlson
— Painting As Paradox, Artist Space, New York, NY, curated by Lauri Firstenberg, catalogue available
— Peculiarly Pink, LUXE, New York, NY
— Irrational Propositions, POST, Los Angeles, CA, curated by Habib Kheradyar
— Pictures, Greene/Naftali Inc., New York, NY

2001
— Here And Now, Zacheta National Gallery, Warsaw, & Galeria Arsenal, Bialystok, Poland, catalogue available
— Group Show, Kjbuh Kunstverein, Cologne, Germany, represented by Florence Lynch Gallery
— Out of America, Galerie Schuster & Scheuermann, Frankfurt & Berlin, Germany
— Against the Wall: Painting Against the Grid, Surface and Frame, Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA curated by Karen E. Jones
— Material and Matter, The Studio Museum of Harlem, New York, NY curated by Thelma Golden & Christine Y. Kim
— Chelsea Rising, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA curated by David Rubin, catalogue available
— Pleasures of Sight and States of Being: Radical Abstract Painting, Museum of Fine Arts, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL and The Appleton Museum of Art, Ocala, FL, curated by Dr. Roald Nasgaard, catalogue available

2000
— Five Continents & One City, 3rd International Salon of Painting, Museum of Mexico City, Africa Section, curated by Olu Oguibe, catalogue available
— Transcending The Norm And Some, New Jersey City University, Lemmerman Gallery, Jersey City, NJ

1999
— Zeitwenden: Ausblick Ruckblick--(Jet Lag Experiment), Museum of Modern Art, Bonn, Germany and Museum of Modern Art, Vienna, Austria
— IN-VISIBLE: Abstractions & Narratives, Arsenal Gallery, Bialystok, Poland
— Kunstmarkt, Residenzschloss Dresden, Dresden, Germany, represented by Florence Lynch Gallery
— Outside Edge: A Survey, Unversite de Paris 1, Pantheon, La Sorbonne, Paris, France
— 4X4; Alexandre de Folin Gallery, New York, NY
— Ideoscape, Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, MA, curated by Shelly Bancroft and Edmund Barry Gaither
— Civil Sex, (First Stages Collaboration w/ Brian Freeman), Public Theater, Shiva Gallery, New York, NY
— Vanishing Pt., Cynthia Broan Gallery, New York, NY curated by Margaret Evangeline
— You Are Here, Matrix Art Project (MAP), New York, NY curated by Jesus Polanco

1998
— ART/OMI, International Artist Residency Exhibition, Ghent, New York
— Crossing Lines, Art-In-General, New York, NY

1997
— 2ND JOHANNESBURG BIENNALE 1997, SOUTH AFRICA, Projects Section: Billboard & Bus Shelter Posters, curated by Okwui Enwezor, catalogue available
— Diversity In Contemporary Africa: Survey Exhibition of Contemporary African Art, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, curated by Okechukwu E. Odita, catalogue available
— REALLY, UnFinished Gallery, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY curated by Odili Donald Odita
— Interior-Life, RUSH ARTS, New York, NY with Bili Bidjocka, Senga Nengudi, Jocelyn Taylor, & Fred Wilson, curated by Odili Donald Odita, catalogue available
— Aphrodisia, The Alternative Museum, New York, NY

1996
— Something I Saw In Brooklyn..., Galerie Elizabeth Valleix, Paris, France
— ONE, RUSH Fine Arts, New York, NY curated by Rene³ Cox
— At the Foreground of Paths, Skoto Gallery, New York, NY

1995
— Modern Life, Aljira Center for Contemporary Art, in conjunction with Newark Museum, NJ, curated by Okwui Enwezor and Carl Hazlewood
— Stitches, FOUR WALLS, November 12, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY writer/artist collaboration with Adnan Ashraf, publication available
— GOTCHA!, Momenta Art, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY curated by Odili Donald Odita, catalogue available
— CELEBRITY'Hood, Longwood Arts Project, Bronx Council on the Arts, Bronx, NY curated by Betti-Sue Hertz
— Either/Or, Flamingo East, New York, NY curated by Kenny Schachter
— Other Rooms, Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York, represented by Momenta Art & Pierogi 2000

1994
— Split-Level, Art-In-General, New York, NY
— Unfolding Stories, John Jay College of Art, Music & Philosophy, City University of New York, NY
— Pseudo Museum, Jupiter Interactive Productions, New York, concurrent exhibition on-line, curated by Alfredo Martinez.
— The Third Forum of Visual Art, Museum of Art, Brasilia, Brazil, catalogue available
— FIReD: a late nite comedy show, THICKET, New York, No BIAS, North Bennington, Vermont, curated by Odili Donald Odita, catalogue available
— Go Back and Fetch It (It Means Sankofa), Gallery ANNEXT and RUSH Fine Arts Management, New York

1993
— FIAR INTERNATIONAL PRIZE- Art Under 30 (1991-1993), Milan, Rome, Paris, London, Los Angeles, New York; National Academy of Design, New York selection curated by Dan Cameron, catalogue available
— Trespass-Beyond Borders, Right Bank Gallery, Brooklyn, curated by Odili Donald Odita.
— A Grand Tour, Swiss Institute, New York, curated by Ingrid Schaffner

1992
— Without A Notion (A Painting Show), 88 Room, Boston, curated by Winston C. Robinson



[ SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ]

2008
Edward Epstein, Review, Art Papers, November/December, pp. 69-70.
Sarah Thornton, Seven Days in the Art World, W.W. Norton, New York, pg. 226.
Edward Sozanski, "Arts & Entertainment," The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 14.
Robin Rice, "Fantastic Four," Philadelphia City Paper, September 10.

2007
Alice Thorson, "Africa's New Look," The Kansas City Star, Sunday, December 9, pp. F1, F8.
Sara Pearce, "A Confluence of Color," The Cincinnati Enquirer, Sunday, November 11, pp. D1, D8.
Sara Pearce, Arts & Entertainment, The Cincinnati Enquirer, Sunday, November 11, pp. D1, D8.
Alex Farquharson, "Venice Biennial," Frieze Magazine, No. 109, September, pp. 128-130.
Olu Oguibe, "An Artist's Biennial," Frieze Magazine, No. 109, September, p. 135.
Holland Cotter, "The Color Line," Weekend Arts, The New York Times, Friday, July 27.
L'Uomo Vogue, "52nd Venice Biennial Issue," June, p. 267.
Edith Newhall, "A Short Course in Abstract Art," The Philadelphia Inquirer, Friday, May 11.

2006
Olu Oguibe, Frieze Magazine, No. 104, January-February, pp. 14-15, 32, 137.
Jerry Cullum, "No-Frills Cultural Comment," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 5.

2005
Stephen Maine, Art in America, June/July, pp. 183-184.
Cathy Fox, Odili Donald Odita, Re-Envisioning Nigeria: Artist Limns Dreams, Nightmares of Native Nigeria, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 1.

2003
Micah Malone, "Visualizing Diaspora/Constructing Self," Art Papers, March/April, p. 48.
Martha Schwendener, Goings On About Town, The New Yorker, January 3, p. 14.

2004
Ken Johnson, "Notes From Paradise," The New York Times, The Listings, November-December.
Olu Oguibe, "Artists on Artists," BOMB Magazine, No. 89, Fall, pp. 8-9.
David Carrier, "A Fiction of Authenticity," Art Forum, Vol. 43, No. 7, March, p. 188.
Alice Thorson, "A Fiction of Authenticity," Art News, Vol. 103, No. 4, April, p. 123.
Ivy Cooper, "A Fiction of Authenticity," Art Papers, Vol. 28, No. 1, January-February, p. 52.

2003
Jeffrey Hughes, "A Fiction of Authenticity," Flash Art International, Vol. 36, No. 233, November-December, p. 44.
Ann Wilson Lloyd, "Two Different Museums Meet in St. Louis," The New York Times, October 12, p. 33.
Courtney J. Martin, "Black President," Flash Art International, Vol. 36, No. 232, October, pp. 56-57.
Carol Schwarzman, "New York, New York," Art Papers, Vol. 27, No. 5, September-October, p. 50.
David Bonetti, "Front Page: Contemporary Art's New Home in St. Louis," Art In America, November, p. 49.
Barbara Pollack, "The Afrobeat Generation," The Village Voice, July 23.
Holland Cotter, "King of Music (and of All He Surveyed)," The New York Times, July 18.

2002
Painting as Paradox, Tema Celeste, Vol. 19, No. 94, November-December, p.111.
Michelle Weinberg, MAM, Tema Celeste, Vol. 19, No. 94, November-December, p. 88.
Gean Moreno, MAM, Flash Art International, Vol. 34, No. 226, October.
Holland Cotter, "The New Season / Art", The New York Times, September 8.
Elisa Turner, Miami Herald, Visual Arts Section, Sunday, September 8.
Edited by Subotnick Ali, Massimiliano Gioni and Maurizio Cattelan, Charley 01, Derek Murray, "New York Scene," The International Review of African American Art, Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 54-56.
Gregory Volk, Art in America, May, pp. 147-148.
Johannes Wendland, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, April 3.
Dorothee Baer-Bogenschutz, Frankfurter Rundschau, Kulturspiegel, February 27.
Michael M. Thoss, "Afro-American Postmodernism," exhibition introductory statement, Berlin, March.
Nicole Scheyerer, Kunst Kurz, Vienna, Austria, February.

2001
Deborah Frizzell, NY Arts, December, pp. 10-11.
Holland Cotter, The New York Times, ("LIFE" at Riva Gallery/Florence Lynch Gallery), Nov. 16, p. E32.
Barbara Pollack, "The Newest Avant-Garde," Art News, Vol. 100, No. 4, April, pp. 124-129.
Holland Cotter, "Material and Matter," The New York Times, March 9.
Ariella Budick, "No Matter What They Use, It's a Work of Art," Newsday, February 9.
Franklin Sirmans, "Material and Matter," Time Out New York, Art Section, March 1-8, Issue No. 284.
Santiago Espinosa de los Monteros, "Five Continents & One City," Art Nexus, No. 39, February-April, pp. 108-110.
Steven Vincent, "The Flat Pack," Art & Auction, Vol. 23, No. 1, January 2001, pp. 90-97.

2000
Gerhard Mack, "Vom Verlust des Fremden," (Transfers/Odyssey), Tagblatt, St. Gallen, October 24, 2000, p. 21.
Denise Carvalho, "Color Theory," NKA, Journal of Contemporary African Art, Number 11/12, Fall/Winter 2000, pp. 22-23.
Sylvie Fortin, "The Invisible Empire," NKA, Journal of Contemporary African Art, Number 11/12 Fall/Winter 2000, pp. 18-21.
Calvin Reid, "How We Got To Now," The International Review of African American Art, Vol. 16, No. 4, 2000, p. 27.
Horace Brockington, "After Representation," The International Review of African American Art, Vol. 16, No. 4, p. 52.
Barry Schwabsky, "Transcending the Norm and Some," The New York Times, On the Towns, January 23.
Lauri Firstenberg, "African Experiences," Flash Art International, Vol. 33, No. 210, January-February 2000, pp. 68-70.
Nadine Kibanda, "Color Theory," Flash Art Magazine Online,
Neyda Martinez, "Color Theory," POSTMEDIA,

1999
Denise Carlvalho, "At Arsenal," Flash Art International, Vol. 32, No. 209, November-December 1999, p. 63.
"At the Galleries," Flash Art International, Vol. 32, No. 209, November-December, p. 60.
Max Henry, "Color Theory," ARTNET.COM,
Franklin Sirmans, "Color Theory," Time Out New York, Art Section, November 4-11, 1999, Issue No. 215, p. 68.
Michael Rush, "Color Theory," Review Magazine, November 1, pp. 14-15.
Lilly Wei, "IN-VISIBLE: Abstraction and Narratives," exhibition essay, September.
Franklin Sirmans, "Visual Arts Roundtable," The ILM A -List, April/May, pp. 12-15.
Carl Hazlewood, "Crossing Lines" Art Papers Magazine, May/June, pp. 46-47.
Michael Rush, "Vanishing Point at Cynthia Broan," Review Magazine, April 1, pp. 112-113.
Anita Euteneier, "Painter Writes on Black Body (The Invisible Empire)," Capital City, Feb., p. 19.
Franklin Sirmans, "Empty Signifiers and the Loaded Void," exhibition essay (The Invisible Empire), January.
Carl Hazlewood, "Crossing Lines," POSTMEDIA (www), January.

1998
Jennifer Dalton, "Crossing Lines," The Tribeca Trib, Volume 5, Number 4, December, p. 42.
Annie Provo, "On View: Williamsburg Brooklyn," (REALLY), New Art Examiner, July/August, 1998, p. 44.
Calvin Reid, "REALLY," artwURL, (www), March-April, 1998.

1997
Gordon Haist, "The Familiar and the Unthought;" (REALLY), Elenchus: The Journal of the Society for Philosophical Inquiry, Volume II, Issue I, 1997, pp. 8-9.
"REALLY," Waterfront Week, Volume 7, Number 24, Dec 1997, p. 4.
International Art Tour: Johannesburg Biennale; People Page (World Wide Web), The New School, 1997.
Carl Hazlewood, "Interior-Life Contests Conservatism," Flash Art International, Volume 30, Number 197, November-December, 1997, p. 57.
"At The Galleries: RUSH Arts," Flash Art International, Volume 30, Number 196, October, 1997, p. 57.
Okwui Enwezor, "Neglected Artform or Poor Relation?," Contemporary South African Art: The Gencor Collection, 1997, pp. 65-79.
Susan Canning, "Studio View," New Art Examiner, April, 1997, p. 40.
Betti-Sue Hertz, "CELEBRITY'Hood," Longwood Arts Council/Bronx, Manual 1995-97.

1996
"Artist Spotlight;" Arude Magazine, Volume 2, Number 5, Fall Issue, p. 14.
Olu Oquibe, "Guest of the Month," Dr. Olu Oguibe Homepage, (World Wide Web), November.
"Split-Level;" Art-In-General, Manual 1994-95, Annual exhibitions catalogue.
Okwui Enwezor & Octavio Zaya, "Moving-In," Flash Art International, Volume 29, Number 186, January-February, pp. 84-89.
"GOTCHA!," Columbus Alive, January 31 - February 6.
Geoffrey Jacques, "GOTCHA!," Cover Magazine, Volume 10, Number 1, Holiday Issue.

1995
"GOTCHA!," Waterfront Week, Volume 5, Number 19, September 21-October 4.
Okwui Enwezor, "A Continuously Elaborated Task," exhibition essay, Modern Life.
Vivien Raynor, "Many Vantage Points on Modern Life," The New York Times, November 5.
Eileen Watkins, "Humanity in High-Tech World," The Sunday Star Ledger, New Jersey, November 5.
Roberta Smith, "Other Rooms," The New York Times, July 28, 1995.
Kim Levin, "Other Rooms," The Village Voice, July.

1994
"FIReD: a late nite comedy shOw;" The Bennington Banner, October 6.
Portfolio Page; A Gathering of the TRIBES, Volume 4, Number 1, 1994.

1993
Stuart Nicholson, "The Critics Choose;" Cover Magazine, Volume 7, Number 7, October.
"der KIOSK," Catalogue for KIOSK Project, St. Gallen, Switzerland, August 1991-1992.
Dan Cameron, "The Dowager Queen," FIAR INTERNATIONAL PRIZE- Art Under 30, Milan, Rome, Paris, London, Los Angeles, New York, 1991-1993. Catalogue for traveling exhibition.



[ CORPORATE & PUBLIC MUSEUM COLLECTIONS ]

American Council on Education, Washington, D.C.
Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
Miami Art Museum, Miami, FL
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
The Studio Museum of Harlem, New York, NY
 
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