Adejoke Tugbiyele
Nigerian-American, b. 1977
Double Life, from the series Grassroots
2016
Palm spines, drain protectors, steel and copper wire, threaded rods
44 x 72 x 24 in.
Skoto Gallery, New York
In Double Life, Adejoke Tugbiyele evokes ideas of duality and disguise. Tugbiyele was the first woman to come out publicly as lesbian in Nigeria in response to the country’s legislation in 2014 increasing potential sentences for participating in gay clubs and organizations or for displaying same-sex affection in public. The sculpture looks like two masks which can be used to hide one’s identity and symbolize the two different faces one presents to the world. One important duality she calls attention to is the double life that LGBTQ+ people in Nigeria have to lead, both in their personal lives and in public. They often have to hide their sexuality or gender from family, friends, and neighbors for fear of an intolerant or even violent response. This pair of sculptures Double Life is central to the series Grassroots that uses repurposed materials to reflect on political and spiritual realities of contemporary Nigeria.
Green-Simms, Lindsey. “The Emergent Queer: Homosexuality and Nigerian Fiction in the 21st Century.” Research in African Literatures 47, no. 2 (2016): 139-161. Accessed April 13, 2019. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/reseafrilite.47.2.09.
This article focuses on literature rather than visual art, but it still explores how contemporary Nigerian authors push back against dominant discourses of homophobia and tell stories about the daily lives of LGBTQ+ people in Africa.
Jjuuko, Adrian and Monica Tabengwa. “Expanded criminalization of consensual same-sex relations in Africa: contextualizing recent developments.” In Envisioning Global LGBT Human Rights: (Neo)colonialism, Neoliberalism, Resistance and Hope, edited by Nancy Nicol, Adrian Jjuuko, Richard Lusimbo, Nick J. Mulé, Susan Ursel, Amar Wahab, Phyllis Waugh, 177-204. London: University of London, 2018. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv5132j6.10.
This article looks at the trends of increased criminalization of homosexuality on the African continent and some of their potential causes.
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.
Caroline Daigle ’20
