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ArtX Prize

The Access ART X Prize returns for its 2022/3 edition, with a significantly expanded scope and remit.

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About

Art X Prize

The Access ART X Prize returns for its 2022/3 edition, with a significantly expanded scope and remit.

The Prize awards early-career artists from Africa and its Diaspora with opportunities to develop their practices, with the intention of setting them up for the highest levels of success on the global stage.

The Prize, formerly open only to emerging Nigerian artists, has evolved to include an additional award that is open to emerging artists from all of Africa and its Diaspora, in a bid to buttress sustainable careers for a wider range of artists.

For the 2022/3 edition of the prize, one artist will be selected from Nigeria, who will undergo a residency at Gasworks London. Another artist from Africa and its Diaspora will be selected to undergo a residency at Yinka Shonibare’s G.A.S. Foundation in Lagos. Both artists will be granted exhibitions at the ART X Lagos fair in 2023 supported by grants of $10,000 for their exhibition.

The Access ART X Prize 2022/3 will be judged by an esteemed jury which includes Alessio Antoniolli (Director, Gasworks & The Triangle Network), Dr Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung (Artistic Director, SAVVY Contemporary), Gabi Ncgobo (Artist and Curatorial Director, University of Pretoria), Maria Varnava (Founder, Tiwani Contemporary), Professor Peju Layiwola (Artist and Historian), and Victor Ehikhamenor (Artist).

The 2022/3 edition will be curated by Jumoke Sanwo.

The ART X Prize is sponsored by Access Corporation, the parent company of Access Bank.

Access ART X Prize
2022/3

The Jury

Meet The
Curator

Sanwo is a 2D/3D lens-based storyteller, pacemaker and cultural producer. Her works include photographs, video art and virtual reality film. She explores the complexities of postcolonial realism, on bodily, spatial, and temporal imaginaries in the city of Lagos, working through embodied and spatial memory to counter binary positions. Her artistic, curatorial and cultural productions have been showcased at galleries, museums, and festivals in many regions across the world; including at the Studio Museum in Harlem-New York, the New Museum -New York, the 56th Venice Biennale-Venice-Italy, International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA)-Amsterdam, Netherlands, Brunei Gallery London, Koppel Project Hive, London, and the Revolving Art Incubator Lagos, amongst many others. She lives and works out of Lagos, Nigeria.

Previous

Editions

The Access ART X Prize 2021

About

The ART X Prize was created to further the careers of emerging Nigerian artists who have demonstrated a commitment to working as professional visual artists. 

In the absence of infrastructure that exists in other international centres of contemporary art, the ART X Prize was launched in partnership with Access Bank to contribute to the burgeoning contemporary art scene in Nigeria. 

In 2019, the Prize was renamed the Access Bank ART X Prize, and now provides funding, tailored mentoring support, and a residency opportunity in collaboration with Gasworks, to exceptional emerging artists, enabling them to complete ambitious projects that challenge the expectations of local and global audiences. 

The Access Bank ART X Prize returns after a hiatus due to Covid-19. The 2019 winner, documentary photographer Etinosa Yvonne, will commence a three-month residency at Gasworks in London in July 2021, creating work for a special solo exhibition at the fair in November, curated by Wura-Natasha Ogunji.

The Jury

The Access Bank ART X Prize was presided by an esteemed jury consisting of:

Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze
ARTIST AND CURATOR

Ugoma Adegoke
GALLERIST AND CURATOR

Alessio Antoniolli
DIRECTOR, GASWORKS & TRIANGLE NETWORK

Dexter Wimberly
CURATOR

Marie-Ann Yemsi
ART CONSULTANT AND CURATOR

Ndidi Dike
VISUAL ARTIST

The Finalists

Photographer

Chukwudi Onwumere

Self-taught conceptual artist

Mobolaji Ogunrosoye

Lens-based artist and documentary photographer

Nyancho NwaNri

Documentary photographer and filmmaker

Omoregie Osakpolor

2021 Access Bank ART X Prize Winner

Chigozie Obi’s Bio

A multi-dimensional visual artist, Chigozie Obi’s experimental artworks are created through the layering of multiple materials. Her work is consistent in the use of vibrant colours and figures to portray emotions and stories formed from personal experiences and focuses on the representation of Black/African people in their diversity.

“Emotion is a central theme in my work as I seek to connect with people by making them feel the vehemence in the stories I tell. As the result of personal connection, the subjects in my work thus far have been African/Black people.” – Chigozie Obi

Obi’s works have been featured in several group exhibitions and auctions including ‘Real Life Is Fragile’; Thinkspace Projects, Los Angeles; MoCada Museum’s silent auction (2019) and Collective Renditions, African Artists Foundation, Lagos (2019).

She is one of the recipients of the inaugural Tilga Fund for Arts Grant (2020), and the Art.ng Grant for Visual Artists (2020). She was also a nominee of The Future Awards Prize For Art (2020), a shortlisted artist for The Alpine Fellowship Art Prize (2020), and a former resident of Bethany Arts Community, New York (2020).

Editorials

Access ART X Prize
2019

About

The 2019 edition of the Access Bank ART X Prize was adjudicated by a jury of 5 renowned artists and industry stakeholders, namely Emeka Ogboh, Wura-Natasha Ogunji, Ibrahim Mahama, Alessio Antoniolli, and Zina Saro-Wiwa.

The Jury

After a rigorous screening process, five finalists emerged: Ayomitunde Adeleke, Christopher Nelson Obuh, Etinosa Yvonne, Yadichinma Ukoha-Kalu and Peter Ebahi Okotor, with Etinosa Yvonne emerging as the winner after live presentations to the jury.

Wura-Natasha Ogunji

Zina Saro-Wiwa

Alessio Antoniolli

Emeka Ogboh

Ibrahim Mahama

The Finalists

Ayomitunde Adeleke

Christopher Nelson Obuh

Peter Ebahi Okotor

Yadichinma Ukoha-Kalu

The Access ART X Prize 2019 Winner

Etinosa Yvonne’s Bio

Etinosa Yvonne is a self-taught documentary photographer, based in Abuja, originally from Benin City who considers photography to be a medium of expression and a tool to drive social change. Etinosa leverages the power of visual storytelling to create awareness, educate and inform people about causes and issues she is passionate about.

Etinosa Yvonne will claim the winnings of a cash grant of N1,500,000, a three-month residency at Gasworks, London, in 2021, and a solo presentation at ART X Lagos in 2021.

Editorials

Access ART X Prize
2018

About

The 2018 edition of the ART X Prize was adjudicated by a jury of 5 renowned artists and industry stakeholders namely, Professor Bruce Onobrakpeya, Yinka Shonibare CBE, Sokari Douglas Camp CBE, Wura-Natasha Ogunji, and Oliver Enwonwu.

Three finalists, Ayo Akinwande, Williams Chechet and Bolatito Aderemi-Ibitola, were selected during a rigorous screening process, with Bolatito emerging as the winner after live presentations to the jury.

The Jury

Professor Bruce Onobrakpeya

Oliver Enwonwu

Sokari Douglas Camp CBE

Wura-Natasha Ogunji

Yinka Shonibare CBE

The Finalists

Ayo Akinwande

Williams Chechet

The Access ART X Prize 2018 Winner

Bolatito Aderemi-Ibitola’s Bio

Bolatito is a trans-disciplinary artist working primarily in time-based art, interactivity and performance. She lives and works in Lagos, Nigeria, and earned her Masters in Performance Studies from Tisch School of the Performing Arts, New York University and holds a Bachelors in Communication Arts with a focus in Television/Film Production and a minor in Political Science from Allegheny College.

Access ART X Prize
2017

The 2017 Winner

The Access ART X Prize 2017 Winner

Habeeb Andu’s Bio

Habeeb Andu graduated with a degree in painting from Auchi Polytechnic, Edo State, Nigeria. His work bears the proud influence of the late Nigerian artist Ben Osaghae, under whose tutelage he trained upon graduation. Taking inspiration from abstract expressionism, Andu combines vibrant colours, applied with confident brush strokes, with intricately arranged elements of discarded material, resulting in mid-to-large sized mixed-media works that explore socio-political themes.

The Finalists

Ian Audifferen

O’dare Adenuga

Osora Mojekwu

Access ART X Prize
2016

The 2016 Winner

The Access ART X Prize 2016 Winner

Patrick Akpojotor’s Bio

Patrick Akpojotor is a visual artist working across printmaking, painting and installation art. He studied at the School of Art and Design, Federal Polytechnic, Auchi and Lagos State Polytechnic, and received several awards including the Olusegun Obasanjo National Art Competition (2013), and ART X Prize (2016). His works are part of King Mohammed VI of Morocco’s collection.

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