Jenn Nkiru is a Nigerian-British artist and director. She is known for directing the music video for

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

's "

Brown Skin Girl "Brown Skin Girl" (stylized in uppercase) is a song by American singer Beyoncé, Guyanese-American rapper Saint Jhn, and Nigerian singer Wizkid, featuring Beyoncé's daughter Blue Ivy Carter. Produced by P2J and Beyoncé, it is taken from the 2 ...

" and for being the second unit director of Ricky Saiz’s video for Beyoncé and

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

, "

APESHIT "Apeshit" (stylized in all caps) is a song by American musical duo the Carters, composed of Beyoncé and Jay-Z. The song was written by the duo, Pharrell Williams, and Quavo & Offset from the hip hop trio Migos, with the former three producing ...

" which was released in 2018. She was selected to participate in the

2019 Whitney Biennial This is an incomplete list of Whitney Biennial artists selected for the Whitney Biennial exhibitions of contemporary American art, at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, United States. The event began as an annual exhibition in 193 ...

Early years and education

Nkiru was born in

Peckham Peckham () is a district in southeast London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon p ...

, South London. She studied law before moving to the United States, where she attended Howard University and graduated with a MFA in Filmmaking.

Career

Short films

Her directorial debut was ''En Vogue,'' which was shot by

Bradford Young Bradford Marcel Young, A.S.C (born July 6, 1977) is an American cinematographer. He is best known for his work on ''Selma'', ''When They See Us'', '' A Most Violent Year'', '' Solo: A Star Wars Story'' and ''Arrival'', which earned him a nominat ...

and

Arthur Jafa Arthur Jafa (; born Arthur Jafa Fielder, November 30, 1960) is an American video artist and cinematographer. Early life and education Jafa was born on November 30, 1960 in Tupelo, Mississippi and raised in Clarksdale, Mississippi which was hig ...

was released in 2014. In 2017, Nkiru created a film titled ''Celebrating Women In Art'' for the

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is ...

gallery that showcased female contemporary artists in celebration of

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wom ...

. That same year, her second movie ''Rebirth is Necessary'' was released. This movie was featured on

Nowness Nowness (stylized NOWNESS) is a digital video channel that was launched in 2010 by its founder Jefferson Hack as a brand of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE.

and won several awards including, the Canal+ Award at the Clermont Ferrand Film Festival and the Best Documentary at the

London Independent Film Festival The London Independent Film Festival is a British film festival that takes place annually in April. It was founded by Erich Schultz and specialises in low-budget independent films. It offers a screenplay competition and distribution fair. Hist ...

. ''Rebirth is Necessary'' was also nominated for the 2018 best short film award at Sheffield International Documentary Film Festival. Her video work is included in the

Afrofuturist Afrofuturism is a cultural aesthetic, and philosophy of science and history that explores the intersection of the African diaspora culture with science and technology. It addresses themes and concerns of the African diaspora through technocultu ...

Period Room exhibition

Before Yesterday We Could Fly ''Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room'' is an art exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The exhibit, which opened on November 5, 2021, uses a period room format of installation to envision the past, ...

at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

Music videos

Nkiru has directed music videos for Beyoncé, Kamasi Washington and

Neneh Cherry Neneh Mariann Karlsson (born 10 March 1964), better known as Neneh Cherry, is a Swedish singer-songwriter, rapper, occasional DJ and broadcaster. Her musical career started in London in the early 1980s, where she performed in a number of punk roc ...

. She was the second unit director of Ricky Saiz’s video for Beyoncé and Jay-Z, "

" . In 2020 she directed the critically acclaimed music video for Beyoncé's "Brown Skin Girl", which won the

Best Music Video The Grammy Award for Best Music Video is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality short form music videos. Hon ...

award at the 2021 Grammy Awards.

Works

* ''En Vogue'' * ''Rebirth is Necessary'' * ''Black to Techno'' * "OUT/ SIDE OF TIME", commissioned for the Met exhibition ''

Awards

* 2018 - Voice of a Woman award at Cannes *2019 - Aesthetica Art Prize *2021- Grammy Award for Best Music Video for ''BROWN SKIN GIRL''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nkiru, Jenn Living people Year of birth missing (living people) British people of Nigerian descent People from Peckham British artists Howard University alumni