Marcia Kure


Marcia Kure is an American-based Nigerian artist and member of the University of Nigeria-based Nsukka School known primarily for her mixed media paintings and drawings that engage with postcolonial existentialist conditions and identities.

Early life and education

Kure was born in Kano State, Nigeria. She trained at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka under painter Obiora Udechukwu, a leading figure of the Nsukka School, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in painting in 1994.

Professional career and work

Kure's early work focused on political violence and the agency of women in patriarchal society. Her later work has been concerned with themes related to motherhood, haute couture fashion, hip-hop aesthetics.
In a 2015 interview for ARTCTUALITE, Kure articulated the influence of space on her work, stating that she " to make an argument for people who do not have a defined space," and the ways in which she incorporates Western aesthetic techniques alongside those of African:
"I am not interested in either or, in what something is or what it is not; rather, I prefer the grey area that deals directly with oppositions and juxtapositions. I find the ability to inhabit different views very inspiring. I think the assimilation of western forms and techniques in my work allows me to integrate and interpret the world through a prismatic lens much better than one who has a singular view."
Kure has exhibited internationally with solo exhibitions at the Goethe-Institut, Lagos; Purdy Hicks Gallery, London; and Susan Inglett Gallery, New York. Her work has additionally been featured in group exhibitions at institutions such as the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art; the New Museum, New York; the Barbican Art Galleries, London; National Gallery of Art, Lagos; and, the WIELS Contemporary Art Center, Brussels. Her work can be found in the collections of the British Museum; the Centre Pompidou; the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution; The Newark Museum; the North Carolina Museum of Art; the Cleveland Clinic; the Sindika Dokolo Foundation, Luanda, Angola; and, the United States Embassy, Abuja. Kure has participated in the La Triennial ; the International Biennial of Contemporary Art, Seville, directed by Okwui Enwezor; and the Sharjah International Biennial.
From January through March 2014, Kure was artist-in-residence at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. She was awarded the Uche Okeke Prize for Drawing in 1994.
The artist is represented by Susan Inglett Gallery, New York; Purdy Hicks Gallery, London; and, Officine Dell'Immagine, Milan.

Prizes/awards/grants