Eto Otitigbe

Eto Otitigbe is a polymedia artist whose interdisciplinary practice investigates the intersections of race, power, and technology. With history as the foundation for exploration, Otitigbe sets alternative narratives into motion; creating spaces for people to experience a unique mixture of concepts.  Otitigbe's work has been in national and international exhibitions such as Topophilia, as part of the Meetings Festival in Denmark; Bronx Calling: The Second AIM Biennial, organized by the Bronx Museum and Wave Hill.  He has participated in residencies at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, The John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies, Austin, TX; 701 CCA, Columbia, SC; Center for Book Arts, New York, NY; and Luminary Center for the Arts, St. Louis, MO. Otitigbe received public commissions for FLOW at Randall’s Island Park and the Emerging Artist Fellowship at Socrates Sculpture Park.  In 2015 Otitigbe was awarded a CEC Artslink Project Award for travel to Egypt.  Otitigbe recently completed a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship at the National Museum of African Art in Washington D.C., where he investigated the connection between the Urhobo language of Southwestern Nigeria and objects from the museum's collection.  Otitigbe is currently working with Howeler and Yoon Architecture on a memorial for laborers who were enslaved by the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.  The memorial will be a reflective gathering space that includes symbols of libation and liberation.  Otitigbe's role on the design team is focused on creating imagery for the exterior surface of the memorial that pays tribute to the enslaved laborers.  Otitigbe's design process includes historical research, community outreach, and dialogue with members of enslaved descendant communities. Otitigbe studied Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (B.S.) and Stanford University (M.S.) and earned an MFA in Creative Practice from the TransArt Institute.  Otitigbe lives and works in Brooklyn, NY where is an Assistant Professor and Head of Sculpture in the Art Department of Brooklyn College.