RAIMI GBADAMOSI

INTERNATIONAL ARTIST / WRITER / CURATOR / PROFESSOR

“I tried to imagine what fire would be like written down, tongues of words leaping to form meaning, some words hotter than others, remaining in place long enough to keep the conflagration alive. I imagined what would be the right kind of fuel for a pyre of words, what would provide heat in the mind…”

That’s the intro to Raimi’s 2006 essay Burn, Baby, Burn.
Yeah. Awesome.

Raimi Gbadamosi is an artist, writer and curator. Through mediums such as music, websites, writing and audience participation, his work addresses themes of identity and art theory using his trademark motif of yellow, white and black.

He received his Doctorate in Fine Art from the Slade School of Fine Art, London. He is a member of the Interdisciplinary Research Group ‘Afroeuropeans’, University of Leon, Spain, and the ‘Black Body’ group, Goldsmiths College, London. He is on the Editorial boards of Third Text, SAVVY and Open Arts Journal; and the boards of Elastic Residence, London, and Relational, Bristol. He has written books, publication contributions and essays, the titles of which range from the likes of Whut choo lookin at mofo (2002) and history, myth and memory (2004).

He is involved in art education projects at the Tate institution in the UK, working collaboratively as an artist with young people. Language plays a central part in his works which create debate instead of representing preconceived concerns defined by specific social, cultural and political jargon.

He is an associate professor at our very own WITS School of Arts. His current show titled What’s Going On? is on display at Usher Gallery, United Kingdom from 2013 to 2015. Also – in case you were wondering – yes, Raimi Gbadamosi likes mango trees.