Abi Salami | The Miseducation of Boys and Girls
Installation View
1.7.23 -2.11.23
Abi Salami | The Miseducation of Boys and Girls
Installation View
1.7.23 -2.11.23
Abi Salami | The Miseducation of Boys and Girls
Installation View
1.7.23 -2.11.23
Abi Salami | The Miseducation of Boys and Girls
Installation View
1.7.23 -2.11.23
Abi Salami | The Miseducation of Boys and Girls
Installation View
1.7.23 -2.11.23
Abi Salami | The Miseducation of Boys and Girls
Installation View
1.7.23 -2.11.23
Abi Salami | The Miseducation of Boys and Girls
Installation View
1.7.23 -2.11.23
Abi Salami | The Miseducation of Boys and Girls
Installation View
1.7.23 -2.11.23
Abi Salami | The Miseducation of Boys and Girls
Installation View
1.7.23 -2.11.23
Abi Salami’s latest body of work—cheeky, off-kilter, wry—playfully but powerfully rails against the stereotypes that haunt our cliches and norms, the tyrannies and false imperatives of European beauty standards, and the hypocrisies of heterosexual love. Topsy-turvy tableaux expose society’s foibles with sardonic wit. Her rollicking visual riddles place folly where we can see it. In the artist’s loose, gestural compositions, the shock of color and melee of form intentionally disorient the viewer, while humor both lures and diffuses tension—her clever formal means to broach (mis)education.
For this series, Salami borrowed from pop culture and her own experiences of indigenous Nigerian religion to explore her theme. Autobiographical introspection and social commentary arise through the artist’s visual, symbol-laden lexicon of femininity and masculinity, innocence and seduction, betrayal and desire. Ultimately, Salami’s paintings can be heeded like pages from a pictorial lesson book that asks the viewer to pose the questions that we leave unasked.
Abi Salami was born in Lagos, Nigeria and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. After receiving a master’s degree in Accounting, Abi began her career as a self-taught artist. Salami has received several awards including: 2021 Black Foundry Award; Aux Creative Fund 2021; 2021 Hopper Prize Winner; Saatchi Art 2020 Rising Stars under 35 Class; New Voices Top 100 Artists Saatchi. She has also participated in multiple residencies including: Fields Projects, Chelsea New York, New York; Jardin Rouge, Montresso Foundation, Marrakech, Morocco. Her work can be found in public installations including the 29 Pieces Mural Installation in Dallas, Texas as well as the 2020 Charon’s Token at the Joule Hotel in Dallas, TX. Her work has been exhibited at The Women’s Museum (Dallas, TX); African American Museum of Dallas (Dallas, TX); Viridian Artists Inc. (New York, NY). Her work is in the public collections of The 5M Collection (Wichita, KA); Norbert Simmons Foundation (Miami, FL); African American Museum (Dallas, Texas); Dallas Art Therapy (Dallas, Texas.)
