Jadé Fadojutimi: Can we see the colour green because we have a name for it?

Fadojutimi’s large-scale paintings combine abstract and figurative elements in compositions that have intense graphic energy. At the heart of Fadojutimi’s work is an introspective mining of facets of her own identity and the social and cultural environments that shape them.

Her paintings are typically made in bursts of energetic mark-making. While some are worked on over time, others are completed in a single sitting, and each evoke a memory or experience. Writing is also central to her creative practice and she expresses herself in words as readily as she does with paint, with the diaristic nature of her writing finding abstract expression in her canvases.

‘Jadé is an artist that we have been following for a few years and we acquired a work by her for the collection in 2020. She is one of the most dynamic and innovative painters of her generation with a maturity of language that far surpasses her young age. The exhibition at The Hepworth Wakefield will offer visitors an opportunity to engage with Jadé’s work within the context of our Modern British collection, creating many surprising and insightful connections.’ – Andrew Bonacina, Chief Curator