Luke Agada
Interview by Phyllis Hollis
Nigerian artist living and working in Chicago. Examines themes of globalization, migration and cultural dislocation within the framework of a postcolonial world. MFA in Painting and drawing from School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2023. Teaching Fellow at the Painting and Drawing Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL. Recently named a 2024 Breakout Artist by NewCity Magazine.
Luke Agada is a Nigerian artist living and working in Chicago. His practice examines themes of globalization, migration, and cultural dislocation within the framework of a postcolonial world, as he reflects on the African diaspora and its impact on neo-cultural evolution. He obtained an MFA in Painting and drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2023. In recent years, Agada has participated in shows in Lagos, New York, Chicago, Beijing, Accra, Berlin, and Casablanca. His work has been featured in several publications including Newcity Magazine, Culture type, The Pinch Journal publication at the University of Memphis, Tennessee, Nigeria Art archives, Juxtapoz, and Whitewall.
He has also been a recipient of various awards and fellowships including the Global Warming International Art Prize, AII, New York in 2020, the Janet and Russell Doubleday Award at The Art Students League of New York in 2022, The Helen Frankenthaler Award in 2022 and The James Nelson Raymond Fellowship Award in 2023. Agada was a Resident Fellow at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in 2023. He was recently named a 2024 Breakout Artist by NewCity Magazine and is currently a Teaching Fellow at the Painting and Drawing Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL
Photo courtesy of the artist and moniquemeloche Chicago, IL.