Collins Obijiaku’s (b.1995 Kaduna, Nigeria; based in Chicago, IL) elegant portraits of Black men and women gaze directly at the viewer. He uses various materials, often mixing oil, acrylic, and charcoal to achieve soft gradients, seductive texture, and beguiling linework; seen up close, the arrangements of his brushstrokes are almost cartographical in appearance. His subjects vary from close friends and family to strangers, which allows Obijiaku to create intimate records of his home and surrounding community. 

Recent exhibitions include Dreaming in Colour, Opera Gallery, London, UK (2026); Collins Obijiaku: Two Boys, 12.26, Dallas, TX (2025); When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting, Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, Switzerland (2024), Center for Fine Arts, Bozar, Brussels, Belgium (2025); Atlantic, Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, CA (2024); and Traces of Me, Luce Gallery, Turin, Italy (2023), among others. He was an artist-in-residence at Black Rock Senegal, a multidisciplinary residency program founded in 2019 by Kehinde Wiley in Dakar, Senegal, from 2020 to 2021.