Luke Agada’s practice examines themes of globalization, migration and cultural dislocation within the framework of a postcolonial world and its impact on neo-cultural evolution. Agada’s surrealist paintings of disembodied figures and dream-like grounds reference identity and the transformation of the postmodern human, where both time and space produce complex bodies of difference. Overlapping thepast and present, the other and the self-reflect the ambiguity of our identity within post-structuralist theory. Agada’s work has been inspired by the postcolonial writings of Homi Bhabha, Edward Said and literary works by fellow Nigerian authors Chinua Achebe and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. His work is a continuous reflection of his investigative approach to history and critical theory with regards to the examination of the culture of dominance through globalization.  

Agada (b. 1992, Lagos, Nigeria) received his MFA in Painting and Drawing at theSchool of the Art Institute of Chicago (2023) and a DVM at Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (2018). He has had recent national and international exhibitions with Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Berlin, Germany (2023); African Artist’s Foundation, Lagos, Nigeria (2021); and Gallery 1957, Accra, Ghana. He will be presenting a solo show at Monique Meloche Gallery in 2023.  

He has also been a recipient of various awards and fellowship including: The James Nelson Raymond Fellowship Award (2023); Dean’s Grant, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (2023); Janet and Russell Doubleday Award at The Art Students League of New York (2022); The Helen Frankenthaler Award at SAIC in (2022); George and Ann Siegel Award, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (2021); Global Warming International Art Prize, New York, New York (2020). Agada currently lives and works in Chicago, IL.  

Image: Luke Agada, Arms, Feet, and Fitful Dreams, 2023. 72 x 96 in. Oil on canvas