Kambui Olujimi

Olujimi was born and grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City.{{cite news|last1=Pantuso|first1=Phillip|title=Crossing Brooklyn: Kambui Olujimi, In Your Absence the Skies Are All the Same|url=http://www.bkmag.com/2014/11/07/crossing-brooklyn-kambui-olujimi-in-your-absence-the-skies-are-all-the-same/|work=Brooklyn Magazine|date=7 November 2014}}

In 1996, he attended Bard College. In 2002, he received a BFA from Parsons School of Design. He attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine in 2006. In 2013, Olujimi received an MFA from Columbia University School of the Arts.{{cite news|title=List Projects: Kambui Olujimi|url=http://www.e-flux.com/announcements/31669/kambui-olujimi|work=e-flux|date=18 January 2014}}

Reviews of his work have appeared in publications including Art in America, The New York Times,{{Cite news |last=Mitter |first=Siddhartha |date=2021-01-08 |title=In 177 Portraits, an Artist's Homage to His Bed-Stuy Muse |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/08/arts/design/olujimi-portraits.html |access-date=2024-01-14 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} The New Yorker, Modern Painters, Artforum, Hyperallergic,{{Cite web|url=https://hyperallergic.com/412244/kambui-olujimi-lincoln-center-where-does-the-time-go/|title=Water as a Cinematic Metaphor for the Tides of Time|date=2017-11-17|website=Hyperallergic|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-17}} and The Brooklyn Rail.{{Cite web |title=Kambui Olujimi |url=http://cueartfoundation.org/kambui-olujimi/ |access-date=2017-01-02 |website=CUE Art Foundation}} Throughout his career he has received numerous grants and fellowships including from A Blade of Grass,{{cite news|title=Artist Files Grantees Announced! - A Blade of Grass|url=http://www.abladeofgrass.org/artist-files/artist-files-grantees-announced/|work=A Blade of Grass|date=24 January 2013}}{{Dead link|date=March 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} the Jerome Foundation, and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown.{{cite news |date=5 June 2010 |title=New Commissions: Kambui Olujimi, Wayward North |url=http://artingeneral.org/exhibitions/433 |work=Art in General |archive-date=18 February 2020 |access-date=23 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218121812/http://artingeneral.org/exhibitions/433 |url-status=dead }} He has also collaborated with artists Hank Willis Thomas,{{Cite web |title=Hank Willis Thomas, Kambui Olujimi {{!}} Winter in America (2006) {{!}} Artsy |url=https://www.artsy.net/artwork/hank-willis-thomas-winter-in-america |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=www.artsy.net |language=en}} Christopher Myers,{{Cite web |title=BOMB Magazine {{!}} Hank Willis Thomas and Kambui Olujimi |url=https://bombmagazine.org/articles/hank-willis-thomas-and-kambui-olujimi/ |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=BOMB Magazine |language=en}} and Coco Fusco.{{Cite journal|last1=Fusco|first1=Coco|last2=Muñoz|first2=José Esteban|date=2008|title=A Room of One's Own: Women and Power in the New America|jstor=25145494|journal=TDR|volume=52|issue=1|pages=136–159|doi=10.1162/dram.2008.52.1.136|s2cid=159057627 }}{{Cite book|jstor=j.ctt5hhwpv.8|title=War Culture and the Contest of Images|date=2012|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=9780813553955|pages=79–111|chapter=Abu Ghraib, Gender, and the Military|last1=Apel|first1=Dora}}

Olujimi's visual work is in the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum of Art,{{Cite web|url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/2714|title=Brooklyn Museum|website=www.brooklynmuseum.org|access-date=2017-01-02}} the Whitney Museum of American Art,{{Cite web |title=Kambui Olujimi |url=https://whitney.org/artists/20217 |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=whitney.org |language=en}} the Speed Art Museum,{{Cite web |title=In Case the Wind Will Not Listen |url=https://www.speedmuseum.org/collections/in-case-the-wind-will-not-listen/ |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=Speed Art Museum |language=en-US}} the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University,{{Cite web |title=Love & Anarchy |url=https://nasher.duke.edu/exhibitions/love-anarchy/ |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University |language=en-US}} and the Cleveland Museum of Art.{{Cite news|url=http://www.clevelandart.org/art/2012.60?collection_search_query=kambui&op=search&form_build_id=form-1zYgIZ3BmVpviAb-0QmZdVvLbFDvU6us-Ti9GmvIIa4&form_id=clevelandart_collection_search_form|title=Winter in America|date=2016-12-31|newspaper=Cleveland Museum of Art|access-date=2017-01-04}}{{Cite web |last=Anonymous |date=2022-03-17 |title=Italo |url=https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2021.147 |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=Cleveland Museum of Art |language=en}}

He has taught in the Visual Art programs at Columbia University and Cooper Union.{{Cite web|url=http://arts.columbia.edu/visual-arts/faculty/Kambui-Olujimi|title=Kambui Olujimi|website=arts.columbia.edu|access-date=2017-01-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170105083455/http://arts.columbia.edu/visual-arts/faculty/Kambui-Olujimi|archive-date=2017-01-05|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://cooper.edu/academics/people/kambui-olujimi|title=Kambui Olujimi {{!}} The Cooper Union|website=cooper.edu|access-date=2017-01-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170105092725/http://cooper.edu/academics/people/kambui-olujimi|archive-date=2017-01-05|url-status=dead}}

Olujimi was one of the subjects of the short feature Through a Lens Darkly, concerning the struggle for African American photographers to receive recognition.Harris, Thomas A, and Kambui Olujimi. Through a Lens Darkly: Philosophy of the Artist. 2014. Internet resource.

Some of Olujimi's work is inspired by Bedford-Stuyvesant community leader and activist Catherine Arline, a woman he considered a surrogate mother and referred to as his guardian angel.{{cite news|last1=Bautista|first1=Camille|title=Bed-Stuy Residents Mourn Longtime Community Leader|url=https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20141031/bed-stuy/bed-stuy-residents-mourn-longtime-community-leader|work=DNAinfo New York|date=31 October 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170105085312/https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20141031/bed-stuy/bed-stuy-residents-mourn-longtime-community-leader|archivedate=5 January 2017}} Olujimi described his series of portraits of Arline as both a "mourning practice" and an experiment in "memory work."{{Cite news |last=Mitter |first=Siddhartha |date=2021-01-08 |title=In 177 Portraits, an Artist's Homage to His Bed-Stuy Muse |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/08/arts/design/olujimi-portraits.html |access-date=2021-02-13 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

Olujimi currently lives and works in Queens, New York.

• 2021: Awarded Joan Mitchell Fellowship by the Joan Mitchell Foundation{{Cite web|title=Joan Mitchell Foundation Announces Inaugural Fellows|url=https://www.artforum.com/news/joan-mitchell-foundation-announces-inaugural-fellows-86915|access-date=2021-11-19|website=www.artforum.com|date=13 October 2021 |language=en-US}}
• 2020: Awarded Colene Brown Art Prize by BRIC Arts Media{{Cite web |last=aclark |date=2020-11-04 |title=2020 Colene Brown Art Prize Recipients |url=https://archive.bricartsmedia.org/artist-opportunities/colene-brown-art-prize/2020 |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=BRIC |language=en}}

• 2023: Denniston Hill (Glen Wild, NY){{Cite web |title=Residents |url=https://www.dennistonhill.org/residents |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=Denniston Hill |language=en-US}}
• 2022: Yaddo (Saratoga Springs, NY){{Cite web |title=Our Artists – Yaddo |url=https://yaddo.org/our-artists/ |access-date=2024-01-14 |language=en-US}}
• 2022: Archie Bray Foundation (Helena, MT){{Cite web |title=The Bray Incubator |url=https://archiebray.org/education/the-bray-incubator/ |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=Archie Bray |language=en-US}}
• 2019: Black Rock Senegal (Dakar, Senegal){{Cite web |title=Artists Selected for Kehinde Wiley's Inaugural Residency Program in Senegal |url=https://www.artforum.com/news/artists-selected-for-kehinde-wiley-s-inaugural-residency-program-in-senegal-80382 |access-date=2019-08-17 |website=www.artforum.com |date=23 July 2019 |language=en-US}}
• 2018: MacDowell (Peterborough, NH){{Cite web |title=Kambui Olujimi - Artist |url=https://www.macdowellcolony.org/artists/kambui-olujimi |access-date=2019-08-17 |website=Macdowell Colony |language=en}}
• 2017: Robert Rauschenberg Residency (Captiva, FL)
• 2016: Queenspace Residency (Long Island City, NY)
• 2015: The Fountainhead Residency (Miami, FL)
• 2015: The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (New York, NY), Process Space Residency{{Cite news |title=Kambui Olujimi - Lower Manhattan Cultural Council |url=http://lmcc.net/person/kambui-olujimi/ |access-date=2017-01-02 |newspaper=Lower Manhattan Cultural Council |language=en-US |archive-date=2017-01-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170105175537/http://lmcc.net/person/kambui-olujimi/ |url-status=dead }}
• 2015: Meet Factory (Prague, Czech Republic)
• 2015: Civitella Ranieri (Umbertide, Italy){{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Kambui Olujimi - Fellows - Civitella Ranieri |url=http://www.civitella.org/fellows/fellow/kambui-olujimi |access-date=2017-01-02 |website=exhibit-e |publisher= |archive-date=2017-01-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170105092045/http://www.civitella.org/fellows/fellow/kambui-olujimi |url-status=dead }}
• 2014: Franconia Sculpture Park (Franconia, MN)
• 2013: Tropical Lab 7 (Singapore)
• 2011: The Center for Book Arts (New York, NY)
• 2010: Acadia Summer Arts Program (Mt. Desert, ME)
• 2009: Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts (Omaha, NE)
• 2009: Santa Fe Art Institute (Santa Fe, NM)
• 2007-2009: Fine Arts Work Center at Provincetown (Provincetown, MA), 2nd Year Fellow
• 2007-2009: Apexart: Outbound Residency to Kellerberin, Australia (Kellerberin, Australia)
• 2006: Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (Skowhegan, ME)
• 2005: BCAT / Rotunda Gallery Multimedia Artist Residency (New York, NY)

Olujimi's work has been exhibited in a number of institutions nationally, including: the Whitney Museum of American Art,{{Cite web |title=Inheritance |url=https://whitney.org/exhibitions/inheritance |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=whitney.org |language=en}} Los Angeles County Museum of Art,{{Cite web |title=Black American Portraits |url=http://www.lacma.org/art/exhibition/black-american-portraits |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=LACMA |language=en}} The Andy Warhol Museum,{{Cite web |title=Fantasy America |url=https://www.warhol.org/exhibition/fantasy-america/ |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=The Andy Warhol Museum |language=en-US}} Studio Museum in Harlem (New York, NY), CUE Arts Foundation (New York, NY), MIT List Visual Arts Center (Cambridge, MA),{{Cite web|url=https://listart.mit.edu/exhibitions/list-projects-kambui-olujimi|title=List Projects: Kambui Olujimi|website=MIT List Visual Arts Center|access-date=2017-01-02}} Apexart (New York, NY), Art in General (Brooklyn, NY), The Sundance Film Festival (Park City, UT), Smithsonian Institution, (Washington D.C.), Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (Madison, WI), Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA), Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco, CA), Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (Houston, TX), The Blanton Museum of Art (Austin, TX),{{Cite web |title=Kambui Olujimi: Zulu Time |url=https://blantonmuseum.org/rotation/kambui-olujimi-zulu-time/ |access-date=2019-08-17 |website=Blanton Museum of Art |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Purcell |first=Barbara |date=March 15, 2019 |title=Kambui Olujimi Speaks Art to Power in "Zulu Time" |url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/arts/2019-03-15/kambui-olujimi-speaks-art-to-power-in-zulu-time/ |access-date=2019-08-17 |website=www.austinchronicle.com |language=en-US}} The Newark Museum (Newark, NJ),{{Cite web |title=Skywriters & Constellations |url=https://www.newarkmuseum.org/skywriters |access-date=2019-08-17 |website=www.newarkmuseum.org}}{{Cite web |title=Art installation revels in the intersection of art and technology {{!}} Video |url=https://www.njtvonline.org/news/video/art-installation-revels-in-the-intersection-of-art-and-technology/ |access-date=2019-08-17 |website=NJTV News |language=en-US}} the Brooklyn Museum (Brooklyn, NY), and Project for Empty Space, Newark, NJ.

Internationally, Olujimi's work has been exhibited in the Sharjah Biennial 15 (Sharjah, UAE),{{Cite web |title=events - Sharjah Art Foundation |url=https://sharjahart.org/biennial-15/events/ep-7-kambui-olujimi-flight-and-freedom |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=sharjahart.org |archive-date=2024-01-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114072435/https://sharjahart.org/biennial-15/events/ep-7-kambui-olujimi-flight-and-freedom |url-status=dead }} the Dakar Biennale Dak'Art 14 (Dakar, Senegal),{{Cite web |last=Das |first=Jareh |date=2022-06-14 |title=Dak'Art Shines a Light on Contemporary Art in Senegal |url=https://www.frieze.com/article/dakart-review-2022 |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=Frieze |language=en}} Zeitz MOCAA (Cape Town, South Africa),{{Cite web |title=When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting |url=https://zeitzmocaa.museum/exhibition/exhibitions/when-we-see-us-a-century-of-black-figuration-in-painting/ |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=Zeitz MOCAA |language=en-ZA}} Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (Madrid, Spain), Kiasma (Helsinki, Finland), Para Site (Hong Kong, China), The Jim Thompson Art Center (Bangkok, Thailand).

He has given artist lectures in many institutions nationally and internationally, including Carleton University, Ottawa,{{Cite web|url=https://events.carleton.ca/osl-03-kambui-olujimi-public-readings-from-wayward-north-and-dialogue-with-anna-khimasia/|title=OSL 03: Kambui Olujimi / Public readings from "Wayward North" and dialogue with Anna Khimasia|date=2017-11-13|website=Events Calendar|language=en|access-date=2019-08-17}} University of Buffalo,{{Cite web|url=https://www.licatadesign.com/sandbox/ubart/2018/08/28/visiting-artist-speaker-series-fall-2018/|title=Visiting Artist Speaker Series, Fall 2018 {{!}} ubART Clone|access-date=2019-08-17|archive-date=2019-08-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817161206/https://www.licatadesign.com/sandbox/ubart/2018/08/28/visiting-artist-speaker-series-fall-2018/|url-status=dead}} the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth,{{Cite web |title=Kambui Olujimi |url=https://www.themodern.org/program/kambui-olujimi |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=www.themodern.org |language=en}} Rhode Island School of Design.{{Cite web|url=http://glass.risd.edu/visiting-lecture-series|title=Visiting Lecture Series|website=RISD Glass|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-13}}{{Dead link|date=January 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

• {{cite journal|last1=Olujimi|first1=Kambui|title=No Regrets No Redemption|journal=The American Poetry Review|date=March 1998|volume=27|issue=2|pages=42–43|jstor=27782650|issn=0360-3709|oclc=5542854838}}
• {{cite book|last1=Olujimi|first1=Kambui|title=Off the Record|date=2003|publisher=The Skylight Gallery at Restoration Plaza|location=Brooklyn, NY|oclc=758496035}}
• {{cite book|last1=Olujimi|first1=Kambui|title=The Lost River's Dreamers Index by Dr. Keller|date=2007|publisher=Real Art Ways|location=Hartford, CT|oclc=427270355}}
• {{cite book|last1=Olujimi|first1=Kambui|last2=Hickey|first2=Andria|last3=Myers|first3=Christopher|title=Wayward North|date=2010|publisher=Art in General|location=New York|isbn=978-1-934-89028-8|oclc=829395760}}
• Olujimi, Kambui. Zulu Time; essays by Sampada Aranke, Gregory Volk, and Leah Kolb. Madison, WI: Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. 2017. Exhibition Catalogue.{{Cite book|title=Kambui Olujimi : Zulu time|last1=Aranke|first1=Sampada|last2=Volk|first2=Gregory|last3=Kolb|first3=Leah|publisher=Madison Museum of Contemporary Art|isbn=9780913883389|location=Madison|oclc=981948700|year = 2017}}
• Olujimi, Kambui. Walk With Me; essays by Jasmine Wahi and Christopher Myers. Newark, NJ: Project for Empty Space. 2020. Exhibition Monograph.{{Cite web |title=Kambui Olujimi: WALK WITH ME Catalog |url=https://www.projectforemptyspace.org/shop/p/kambui-olujimi-walk-with-me-exhibition-catalog |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=Project for Empty Space |language=en-US}}

• Harris, Thomas A, and Kambui Olujimi. Through a Lens Darkly: Philosophy of the Artist. , 2014. Internet resource.

{{Reflist}}

• {{URL|kambuiolujimi.com|KambuiOlujimi.com}}
• [http://arcade.nyarc.org:80/record=b758582~S8 Kambui Olujimi] at Museum of Modern Art
• {{IMDb name|nm1701558}}

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Category:American artists

Category:Living people

Category:1976 births

Category:People from Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

Category:Columbia University School of the Arts alumni

Category:Bard College alumni

Category:Parsons College alumni

Category:Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture alumni