Bunmi Agusto Nigeria, b. 1999

Bunmi Agusto’s practice follows the inhabitants of a surrealist wonderland in her mind called Within. She uses this world as an exploratory site for how psychological and cultural theories contribute to the construction of selfhood. The indigenous inhabitants of Within are hybrids whose mutations are based on objects the artist finds integral to her sense of self and culture. Human family members, friends and passersby are also present in Within as cross-reality migrants who were subsumed into the world after encountering the artist in her waking life. She works predominantly with pastel pencils and mixed media on paper.

Agusto (b. 1999, Lagos, Nigeria) earned her BA in Fine Art in 2020 from Central Saint Martins where she graduated with First Class Honours and was awarded the Cass Art Prize twice. She graduated from SOAS University in 2022 with a distinction in MA History of Art & Archaeology. She is now an MFA candidate at the Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford where she has been awarded the Clarendon Scholarship for outstanding academic merit. Agusto has been the subject of solo exhibitions at TAFETA, London (2022) and DADA Gallery (2021). Select group exhibitions include ASSEMBLE, V.O Curations Mayfair, London (2022); Art X Lagos (2021); 1-54 x Christie’s, London (2021); Now, Now, TAFETA, London (2021); London Grads Now, Saatchi Gallery, London (2020).