b. 1983, Enugu, Nigeria
Education
2019
- Honorary Doctorate of Arts, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA
2011
- MFA, Yale University School of Art, New Haven, CT
2006
- Post-Baccalaureate Certificate, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2004
- BA (Honors), Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA
Selected Solo and Two-Person Exhibitions
2019
- Njideka Akunyili Crosby: “The Beautyful Ones”, Victoria Miro, Venice
2018
- Njideka Akunyili Crosby: “The Beautyful Ones”, National Portrait Gallery, London
- FOCUS: Njideka Akunyili Crosby | Counterparts, The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, TX
- Art on the Underground, Brixton Station, London
- Obodo (Country/City/Town/Ancestral Village), MOCA Mural, Los Angeles, CA
2017
- Front Room: Njideka Akunyili Crosby | Counterparts, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD
- Predecessors, Tang Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
- Predecessors, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH
2016
- Portals, Victoria Miro, London
- I Refuse to be Invisible, organized by Cheryl Brutvan, Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL
- Before Now After (Mama, Mummy, Mamma), 95 Horatio Street, The Whitney Museum of American Art Billboard Project, New York, NY
2015
- Hammer Projects: Njideka Akunyili Crosby, organized by Jamillah James, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA
- The Beautyful Ones, organized by Jamillah James, Art + Practice, Los Angeles, CA
2013
- I Always Face You, Even When it Seems Otherwise, Two-Person Show with Simone Leigh, Tiwani Contemporary, London
- I Still Face You, Franklin Art Works, Minneapolis, MN
Selected Group Exhibitions
2019
- May You Live In Interesting Times, curated by Ralph Rugoff, the 58th Venice Biennale, Venice
- I am… Contemporary Women Artists of Africa, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C.
- God Made My Face: A Collective Portrait of James Baldwin, curated by Hilton Als, David Zwirner, New York
- Dirty Protest: Selections from the Hammer Contemporary Collection, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
- Black Refractions: Highlights from The Studio Museum in Harlem, Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco traveling to the Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, SC; Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, MI; Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA; Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT
2018
- Sanguine | Bloedrood. Luc Tuymans on Baroque, Fondazione Prada, Milan
- Michael Jackson: On The Wall, National Portrait Gallery, London
- We the People: New Art from the Collection, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
- In My Room: Paintings of interiors from 1950-present, Fralin Museum of Art at The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
- Give and Take: Highlighting Recent Acquisitions, MOCA, Los Angeles, CA
- All things Being Equal…, Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town, South Africa
2017
- Prospect.4: The Lotus in Spite of the Swamp, curated by Trevor Schoonmaker, New Orleans, LA
- A Good Neighbour, 15th Istanbul Biennial curated by Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, Pera Museum, Istanbul
- POWER, Sprüth Magers, Los Angeles, CA
- African-Print Fashion Now! A Story of Taste, Globalization, and Style, Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
- 21 Artists Shortlisted for the Future Generation Art Prize 2017, Pinchuk Art Centre, Kiev, UKR
2016
- The Grand Balcony, La Biennale de Montreal 2017 curated by Philippe Pirotte, Musee d’art Contemporain de Montreal, Montreal, QC
- Prix Canson 2016 Finalist’s Exhibition, The Drawing Center, New York, NY
- Human Interest: Portraits From The Whitney’s Collection, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
- KALEIDOSCOPE: A Moment of Grace, Modern Art Oxford, Oxford, UK
2015
- Forces in Nature, organized by Hilton Als, Victoria Miro Gallery, London
- Portraits and Other Likenesses from SFMOMA, Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco
- Surround Audience, 2015 New Museum Triennial curated by Lauren Cornell and Ryan Trecartin, New Museum, NY
2014
- Kings County, Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
- Draped Down, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
- Sound Vision: Contemporary Art from the Collection, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC
- Meeting in Brooklyn, curated by Monica Lenaers, Landcommandery of Alden-Biesen, Bilzen, Belgium
2013
- Housewarming, curated by Elizabeth Ferrer, BRIC, Brooklyn, NY
- Bronx Calling: The Second Bronx Biennial, Bronx Museum, NY
- Cinematic Visions, Paintings at the Edge of Reality, Victoria Miro Gallery, London
- Exhibition of Works by Newly Elected Members and Recipients of Honors and Awards, American Academy of Arts and Letters, NY
Residencies, Awards, and Grants
2019
- Honorary Doctorate of Arts, Swarthmore College
2017
- MacArthur Foundation Fellow
2016
- Financial Times Women of the Year
- Future Generation Art Prize 2017 Shortlist
- Prix Canson 2016
2015
- Foreign Policy’s Leading 100 Global Thinkers of 2015
- Next Generation Prize, New Museum of Contemporary Art
- The Joyce Alexander Wein Artist Prize, Studio Museum in Harlem
- Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Inc. Grant
- Art Here And Now (AHAN) Acquisition, LACMA
2014
- The James Dicke Contemporary Artist Prize, Smithsonian Museum
2013
- The Space Program at the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation
- Rosenthal Family Foundation Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters
- International Studio and Curatorial Program, sponsored by the Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund of the New York Community Trust
- Rema Hort Mann Foundation Grant
- Bronx Museum Artist in the Marketplace program
2011
- Artist-In-Residence, Studio Museum in Harlem
Selected Press and Publications
2019
- Njideka Akunyili Crosby: “The Beautyful Ones”, Victoria Miro, London & Venice, 2019
- Fineberg, Jonathan, “ArtSeen: Venice Biennale,” The Brooklyn Rail, July – August 2019
- Kay, Christin, “Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Doron Langberg Visit Anderson Ranch, Talk about the Perils of Success,” Aspen Public Radio, July 3, 2019
- Green, Tyler. “No. 374: Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Bierstadt’s West,” The Modern Art Notes Podcast, January 3, 2019
2018
- Nelson, Steven, “b.O.s. 5.2 / Obodo (Country/City/Town/Ancestral Village),” ASAP Journal, July 30, 2018
- Greenberger, Alex, “David Zwirner Now Represents Njideka Akunyili Crosby,” ArtNews.com, November 9, 2018
- White, Simone, “Skin or Surface,” Frieze Magazine, No.194, April 2018
- Pollack, Gina, “From Nigeria to LA, Painter Njideka Akunyili Crosby Becomes a Star,” KCRW’s Press Play with Madeleine Brand, February 8, 2018
- Michel, Karen, “MacArthur ‘Genius’ Paints Nigerian Childhood Alongside Her American Present,” All Things Considered, National Public Radio, Inc., January 2, 2018
2017
- Vankin, Deborah, “Njideka Akunyili Crosby: The Painter in Her MacArthur Moment,” LA Times, November 2, 2017
- Solway, Diane, “Nigerian Artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby Is Painting the Afropolitan Story in America,” W Magazine, September 2017
- Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi, “On Njideka Akunyili Crosby,” @chimamandaadichie, February 17, 2017
2016
- Steiner, Rochelle, Vitamin P3: New Perspectives In Painting, Phaidon, London, UK, 2016
- Cattelan, Maurizio, and Salah, Myriam Ben, “FAQ,” Fontegrafica, Italy, 2016
- Griffin, Jonathan, “Women of the Year: Njideka Akunyili Crosby On Her Breakthrough Year,” The Financial Times, December 7, 2016
- Davies, Cassie, “Interview With Njideka Akunyili Crosby,” TheWhiteReview.com, November, 2016
- Aggarwal-Schifellite, Manisha, “The Lenny Interview: Njideka Akunyili Crosby,” LennyLetter.com, October 14, 2016
- Jansen, Charlotte, “Portals On The World,” Elephant 28, Fall 2016
- Baker, Harriet, “Multifaceted Collage of Cultures,” The Financial Times, October 7, 2016
- Heawood, Sophie, “The Nigerian Artist Who Is Exploding The Myth of The ‘Authentic African Experience’,” The Guardian G2, October 4, 2016
- Jansen, Charlotte, “In Massive Paintings, Njideka Akunyili Crosby Pushes Post-Colonial Narratives Forward,” Artsy.net, October 3, 2016
- Ando, Erica, “Njideka Akunyili Crosby,” Bomb Magazine, Fall 2016
- Walker, Tim, “Intricate Lives,” Vogue UK, October 2016
- Barnard, Imelda, “Njideka Akunyili Crosby at Victoria Miro,” Apollo-Magazine.com, September 24, 2016
- Jansen, Charlotte, “Interiors and Interiority: Njideka Akunyili Crosby,” Carla, Issue 4, 2016
- N/A, “Njideka Akunyili Crosby Awarded 2016 Prix Canson Prize for Art on Paper,” ArtForum.com, June 22, 2016
- Steadman, Ryan, “The Complicated Beauty of Njideka Akunyili Crosby,” Observer.com, May 5, 2016
- Solway, Diane, “Art: Njideka Akunyili Crosby,” WMagazine, April, 2016
- Brown, Liz, “Njideka Akunyili Crosby,” Elle Décor Magazine, March 2016
- Sjostrom, Jan, “Nigerian-born Artist Explores Expatriate Identity at Norton Museum,” PalmBeachDailyNews.com, January 30, 2016
2015
- Mullins, Charlotte, “Picturing People: The New State of the Art,” Thames & Hudson Ltd, London, 2015
- Krug, Simone, “Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Hammer Museum,” Art in America, December 2015
- Jansen, Charlotte, “Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s intimate tableaus echo her transnational world,” Wallpaper.com, November 23, 2015
- Sutton, Kate, “Njideka Akunyili Crosby,” Frieze.com, November 5, 2015
- Dedieu, Jean-Philippe, “Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s Intimate Universes,” The New Yorker, November 5, 2015
- Farago, Jason, “Njideka Akunyili Crosby,” Even Magazine, Issue 2, Fall 2015
- N/A, “Njideka Akunyili Crosby Wins Studio Museum in Harlem’s Wein Prize,” Artforum.com, October 27, 2015
- Kennedy, Randy, “Wein Prize Is Awarded to a Nigerian-born Artist,” The New York Times, October 26, 2015
- Russeth, Andrew, “Trans-Everything: Njideka Akunyili Crosby Mounts Two Shows in Los Angeles,” ArtNews.com, September 29, 2015
- Wood, Sura, “Portraying Lives of the African Diaspora,” Bay Area Reporter, May 14,2015
- Mongezeleli Joja, Athi, “Infinite Possibilities: Interview with Njideka Akunyili,” Contemporary And, January 5, 2015
2014
- Fawcett, Kirstin, “Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s Intimate Work Straddles Mediums and Oceans,” Smithsonianmag.com, December 1, 2014
- Smee, Sebastian, “Many Techniques, Much to Ponder, in ‘Rest of Her Remains’,” Boston Globe, March 4, 2014
- Ong, Amandas, “Showcase: Njideka Akunyili,” Elephant, Issue 17 – Winter 2013-14
2013
- Merjian, Ara H., Vitamin D2, Phaidon, London, UK, 2015
- Wyatt, Daisy, “Things Fall Into Two Parts: Artist Njideka Akunyili Tells a New Nigerian Story,” The Independent, October 17, 2013
Institutional Collections
Yale University Art Gallery
The Rubell Family Collection
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
The Studio Museum in Harlem
The Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University
The Tate Modern
Zeitz MOCCA, Cape Town
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
Albright-Knox Art Gallery
The Norton Museum of Art
Pérez Art Museum Miami
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Smithsonian National Museum of African Arts
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR