Art in the Diaspora

Jade Fadojutimi Smashes Auction Record at Christie’s London

Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr

Jadé Fadojutimi’s awe-inspiring 2021 masterpiece, “The Woven Warped Garden of Ponder,” shattered records at Christie’s London. It achieved a staggering £1,552,500 after an intense six-minute bidding war.

Jadé Fadojutimi, The Woven Warped Garden of Ponder, 2021. (Image credits: Christie’s)
Jadé Fadojutimi, The Woven Warped Garden of Ponder, 2021. (Image credits: Christie’s)

Christie’s 20th/21st Century: London Evening Sale and The Art of the Surreal Evening Sale were a remarkable success, reaching a total of £196,685,600 / $250,380,769 / €229,335,410—an impressive 17% increase from the previous year. The sale series attracted bidders from 31 countries, with 72% from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and 24% from the Americas, including 10% of active millennial buyers.

Jadé Fadojutimi’s triumph marks her third time setting a new auction benchmark in the past five months. Her previous work, “Quirk My Mannerism (2021),” fetched $1.9 million at Phillips in New York last November.

Her artistic prowess shines through her use of both oil and acrylic. She skillfully navigates between rich, sweeping gestures, rapid linear strokes, and translucent dabs of colour.

“The Woven Warped Garden of Ponder,” captivates with vibrant blue and green tones on a three-meter canvas. Raised in London, Jadé Fadojutimi achieved extraordinary recognition, becoming the youngest artist in the Tate’s collection in 2021.

Jadé Fadojutimi (Image courtesy: The artist and Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London.)

Jadé Fadojutimi composes colour, space, and environments, directing her artistic practice by orchestrating movement within her studio. In her expansive works, she blends emotions and pigments, weaving them together to articulate a profound sense of self. Energetic brushstrokes express the ebb and flow of emotions, using colours as a conduit for the exploration of self-awareness.

Her monumental paintings, often termed “emotional landscapes,” serve as a canvas for questioning the nuances of everyday experiences, and self-discovery. Fadojutimi actively interrogates the symbiotic relationship between herself and her surroundings, creating a visual spectacle that is also an act of defiance. Her creative process, inspired by her childhood, involves late-night contemplation, resulting in intricate environments guided by personal thoughts and feelings.

Author

Derrick Chidumebi is a creative writer and growth marketer hailing from Lagos, Nigeria. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Industrial Chemistry from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Nigeria, and is the founder of The Eko Place, a media/marketing agency based in Lagos, Nigeria. Currently, he serves as a writer for Art Network Africa.

Write A Comment