Adejoke Tugbiyele
Nigerian-American, b. 1977
Homeless Hungry Homo
2014
Palm stems, steel, wire, metal, wood, US dollar bills
2915/16 x 5913/16 x 235/8 in.
Arts of Africa, Brooklyn Museum
Frank L. Babbott Fund, accession number 2015.42
In Homeless Hungry Homo, Adejoke Tugbiyele uses recycled materials to create a reclined, androgynous figure, whose lower half is colored like the gay pride flag. The title alludes to the poverty that many LGBTQ+ Africans experience due to the intolerance and criminalization of homosexuality. This rejection can come from their church, government, or family, leading to higher rates of poverty and homelessness among the LGBTQ+ community than in the general population. The figure is depicted propped up on the ground in a way that mimics someone living on the street and a mask obscures their facial features, giving their identity a universality as well as evoking the need to hide and remain closeted to avoid persecution. The flag’s bright colors complicate this tragic narrative by imbuing the figure with life and vibrancy despite their difficult situation.
“Homeless Hungry Homo,” Last modified 2015. https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/218606.
This page on the Brooklyn Museum’s website offers insight into the perspective of the artist about this piece.
Grossman, Guy. “Renewalist Christianity and the Poltical Saliency of LGBTs: Theory and Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa.” The Journal of Politics 77, no. 2 (2015): 337-351. Accessed April 13, 2019. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/679596.
This article looks at the rise in frequency of LGBTQ+ issues in political contexts in Africa and its link to the prevalence of Renewalist Christianity in the reigon.
Klein, Alyssa. “Studio Africa : Adejoke Tugbiyele on Art as a Voice for LGBT Africans.” Last modified April 6, 2016. https://www.okayafrica.com/studio-africa-adejoke-tugbiyele/.
In this article, Adejoke Tugbiyele talks about her newest exhibition as well as about how her experience as a lesbian Nigerian-American influences her art and her life.
Logan, Fern. The Artist Portrait Series: Images of Contemporary African-American Artists. Canada: Southern Illinois Press, 2001.
This book presents photographic portraits and small biographies of African-American artists of all kinds who work to include and raise awareness about people of color, particularly those of African descent, in the arts.
Caroline Daigle ’20
