The difference between art and design can be said to be that art is personal while design is commercial. This means art is about the artist releasing their feelings visually, while design is saying “this is what is fashionable and this is how we can make money from it”. Yinka Ilori is fusing design and art to formwork which reflects themes such as sustainability, cultural exchange and positivity.
Yinka Ilori was born in London, England to Nigerian parents. His inspiration to become an artist came from always feeling that he was surrounded by stories from his homeland. He went on to study product and furniture design at London Metropolitan University and the conviction that objects all around him were telling him stories continued to grow in him.
With support from The Prince’s Trust, whose major goal is to assist vulnerable young people in getting their lives on track, he launched his first collection of furniture at the London Design Festival in 2011. In order to put together the “If Chairs Could Speak” exhibition of upcycled chairs in 2015, he drew on Nigerian linguistic traditions. Since then, he has established Yinka Ilori Studio, where colour-obsessed architects and designers congregate to advance the idea that all people should have access to art and design.
Ilori approaches his work by fusing British style with the vivid hues and patterns of his Nigerian ancestry, which he found alluring with each visit to his homeland. The process of combining these two enables him to consider his own upbringing which included growing up with British influences all around him and then going home to Nigerian parents on a daily basis. This allowed him to experience a little bit of this and that, making him a strong fit for this project.
Ilori was commissioned by Pinterest to design Playland for the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. The goal of this project was to inspire adults to play and use their imagination as one would in a children’s playyground. He also created an indoor skate park for the cultural center La Condition Publique, closely collaborating with skateboarders to make this a reality. His signature colors and patterns are used liberally in each of these designs.
Ilori makes a conscious effort to have his work reflect themes such as sustainability, cultural exchange and positivity. He has partnered with Adidas London for the creation of a bench made from sustainable material at the 2018 World Cup. The following year he joined in on celebrating multiculturalism for the preparation of the Universal Brit Awards Nominees party by producing a limited-edition print. When the pandemic hit in 2020 he was commissioned for the public art installation dedicated towards England’s National Arts Service with the message “Better days are coming I promise” – which served as some encouragement and positivity for healthcare workers who were at the forefront of treating people during the peak of the pandemic.
