b. 1985, London, UK Lives and works in the USA Tunji Adeniyi-Jones is a British-born artist whose work explores the interplay of African heritage and contemporary diasporic identity through painting. Drawing on his Yoruba ancestry and the ancient history and mythology of West Africa, his practice reflects what he describes as ‘cultural addition, combination and collaboration’. Adeniyi-Jones often begins with studies in ink or watercolor on paper, developing imagery that is later translated into multi-panel paintings where figures appear in small groups or pairs, echoing the ritualized repetition found in ceremonial processes. His boldly colored compositions exist within a flat, shallow space influenced by modernist abstraction, Cubism, and Matisse’s papier découpé, while simultaneously incorporating the narratives and symbolism of West Africa. Lush, stylized foliage and tessellating shapes create interlocking planes where sinewy bodies emerge and dissolve, blending abstraction with figuration. Central to his work is the exploration of the Black body in Western painting, using the body as both narrative instrument and primary mode of communication. Dance, movement, and body language are emphasized as vital elements of expression within a continent of over 1,000 languages. Adeniyi-Jones situates his figures at the fulcrum of contemporary diasporic identity, shaped by travel, movement, and cultural hybridity. His paintings are also deeply embedded in a Nigerian cultural landscape, engaging with post-colonial narratives and the literary lineage of Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, and Amos Tutuola. Through his work, Adeniyi-Jones seeks to provide a visual counterpart to these cultural narratives, reclaiming the expansive world of ancient West Africa for contemporary audiences.