Yesomi Umolu

Advisory Council member Yesomi Umolu is Exhibitions Curator at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago. Umolu directs a program of international contemporary art in the Logan Center Gallery and contributes to a number of strategic committees that drive the development of contemporary art, architecture and urbanism on campus. In addition to her curatorial role, Umolu also holds the position of Lecturer in the Humanities Division. She is a 2016 recipient of an Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Curatorial Fellowship.

Specializing in global contemporary art and spatial practices, Umolu recently curated Cinthia Marcelle and Tiago Mata Machado: Divine Violence (2017), Kapwani Kiwanga: The sum and its parts (2017) and So-called Utopias (2015) at the Logan Center Gallery. Prior to joining the Logan, Umolu held curatorial positions at the Edythe Broad Art Museum at MSU; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis and the European biennial of contemporary art Manifesta 8. Her other notable exhibitions include: Material Effects: Contemporary Art from West Africa and the Diaspora (MSU Broad, 2015), John Akomfrah: Imaginary Possessions (MSU Broad, 2014), The Land Grant: Forest Law (MSU Broad, 2014), and The Museum of Non Participation: The New Deal (Walker Art Center, 2013).

Umolu has been a visiting lecturer, critic and speaker at a number of international universities including Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills; Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London and University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, among others.

Umolu is a member of the board of trustees of the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, Chicago and she currently serves on the curatorial advisory board for the United States Pavilion at the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale.

Events

11

Nov

 Nov 11, 2017, 12:00 AM – 2:00 AM
 Logan Center Gallery

Logan Center for the Arts
915 E. 60th St.

We, the Wrens, invite you to our exhibition. This exhibition is the result of a DIY media campaign comprised of posters, whispers, video interviews and a library containing over 1,200 books on the subject of immigration.

13

Apr

 Apr 13, 2017, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
 Gray Center Lab at Midway Studios

929 E. 60th St.
Chicago, IL 60637

Panelists Leila Abdelrazaq (author and artist), Marc Fischer (Temporary Services), Tempestt Hazel (independent curator), Sheika Lugtu (cartoonist and researcher) and members of OOMK share their perspectives and discuss the different ways that artists and activists in their communities are self-publishing for activism.

29

Nov

 Nov 29, 2018, 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
 Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry

929 E. 60th St.
Chicago, IL 60637

The Gray Center is pleased to announce the launch of Portable Gray, a new journal dedicated to the weirdness found at the heart of the arts and scholarship(s). Free food. Free drinks. Meet contributors. Complimentary copies of the inaugural issue.

22

Nov

 Nov 22, 2019, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
 Gray Center Lab

929 E 60th Street, Chicago, IL

Join us for a special book launch and raffle for Pope.L: Campaign, featuring a conversation with Gray Center Fellows, artist and DoVA faculty member Pope.L and Neubauer Collegium Curator, Dieter Roelstraete; and Gray Center Advisory Council Member and Logan Center Gallery Curator, Yesomi Umolu.