Oladélé Ajiboyé Bamgboyé (born 1963) is a Nigerian-born British artist and scientist known for his Unmasking series which innovated with early 3D technology in the 1990s. A founding member of the Street Level Gallery in Glasgow and curator at the Cambridge Darkroom Gallery, Bamgboyé has been exhibiting internationally since the mid-1990s. In 1997, he attended

documenta X documenta X was the tenth edition of documenta, a quinquennial contemporary art exhibition. It was held between 21 June and 28 September 1997 in Kassel, Germany. The artistic director was Catherine David. This was the first time a woman was app ...

, where he won international acclaim for his work ''Paradigm Shift: African Stories''. Currently, he is a civil servant and member of the UK Government Science & Engineering Profession.

Early life and education

Bamgboyé was born in Odo-Eku, Nigeria in 1963 as the second of seven children to Salome and Ezra Bamgboyé. In 1975, the family emigrated to

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. After 6 years in Scotland, the family moved back to Nigeria in 1981 while he remained in Scotland to continue his studies.

/ref> In 1985, he received a

Bachelors of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in Chemical & Process Engineering (BSc) from the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde () is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first techn ...

. He later attended the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

, graduating with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in Digital Media & Philosophy of Art in 1998. Bamgboyé was awarded three residencies: International Artist in Residence Awards at the

Banff Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (formerly Banff Centre) is an arts and culture educational institution in Banff, Alberta, Banff, Alberta. It offers arts programs in the Performing arts, performing and fine arts, as well as leadership trai ...

and

ArtPace Artpace (also known as Artpace San Antonio) is a non-profit contemporary art foundation located in downtown San Antonio, Texas that is free and open to the public. Founded by artist, collector, and philanthropist Linda Pace, Artpace opened its d ...

in 1992 and 1999, respectively, and the Koninkrijk der Nederlanden Artist in Residence Scholarship from the

V2_Lab V, or v, is the twenty-second Letter (alphabet), letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alph ...

and Witte de Wit in 2000.

The Unmasking series

The Unmasking series was developed and exhibited in three parts and, as noted in the Unmasking-3 Framework, was ''"a logical development of the artist's general inquiry into the prevalent issues of cultural ethics, the role of a future art practice, and finally making sense of the artist's interest in the intersection of technology, culture, art, philosophy and politics".'' First conceptualised when Bamgboyé was at Slade in 1998, it continued during his residency at

in 2000 and finally culminated in 2001 at

Witte de With Witte Corneliszoon de With (28 March 1599 – 8 November 1658) was a Dutch States Navy officer who served during the Eighty Years' War and the First Anglo-Dutch War. Early life and childhood De With was born on a farmstead in the hamlet of ...

. Utilising cutting-edge technology for the era, Bamgboyé tested the boundaries of art ownership and commodification by scanning artefacts held in museums and notably the Queen Mother Head, a 16th-century bronze sculpture from Benin, Nigeria, held by the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. He developed the series with scholars, computer programmers and scientists, publishing the Unmasking 3 Framework with coauthors David England and Ming Tai. Unmasking 3, as a research project and framework, was a joint collaboration with the Foundation for Creative Technology and V2_. As a lecturer at Bridge the Gap, he focused on his interest in quantum physics and its potential applications in his Unmasking series, the influence of which can be seen in his Yokohama installation of Unmasking-3. Ola-Unmasking3-Yokohama-JP

Exhibitions

Publications

* * *

Honours, awards and nominations

Awarded the ''Richard Hough Prize for Photography'' (1992), Scotland. Awarded the ''

Gulbenkian Foundation The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One of the wealthiest charitable founda ...

Grant'' (1993) Nominated for '' The Vincent van Gogh Biennial Award for Contemporary Art in Europe'' (2000)

Reviews and news

Oladélé Ajiboyé Bamgboyé (review), Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art Interview with Oladélé A. Bamgboyé, Journal of Contemporary African Art ART IN REVIEW; Oladele Bamgboye,

NY Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

Oladélé Bamgboyé, The Unmasking, Part II and Earlier Photoworks,

Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 333 cities in 59 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition became ...

For a few euros more , Art and design,

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

Thick and thin, The Guardian Into Africa, artnet.com Magazine Oladélé Bamgboyé, The Unmasking, Part II, New York Arts Magazine From, Witte de With, centrum voor hedendaagse kunst Exhibition Histories - The Short Century, C& Oladele Bamgboye, Artist of the Month (article), New York Contemporary Art Report Anima Mundi (review), ETC Documenta X - Reclaiming the political project of the avant-garde, Third Text Moving In. Eight contemporary African artists, Flash Art International Oladélé Ajiboyé Bamgboyé, BE Magazin The White Aesthetic Necessitated by the 'Glasgow Miracle'

References

External links

List of artist publications on WorldCat

List of artist publications on Jisc Library Hub Discover
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bamgboye, Oladele Ajiboye 1963 births Living people British scientists