Utopia Editions: Tunji Adeniyi-Jones

This hand-drawn stone lithograph by Tunji Adeniyi-Jones is the artist’s first collaboration with David Zwirner’s fine art print publisher, Utopia Editions.

The work, Adeniyi-Jones’s first lithograph, features abstract depictions of figures in small groups or pairs that are characteristic of the artist’s fluid, rhythmic compositions.

sunrisers

A print by Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, titled Sunrisers, dated 2022.

Tunji Adeniyi-Jones

Sunrisers, 2022
Five-color lithograph on Rives BFK white paper
42 x 29 5/8 inches (106.7 x 75.3 cm)
Framed: 43 1/2 x 31 1/4 inches (110.5 x 79.4 cm)
Edition of 40, 6 AP
A detail of a print by Tunji Adeniyi-Jones titled Sunrisers, dated 2022

Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Sunrisers, 2022 (detail)

Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Sunrisers, 2022 (detail)

Featuring curving figures that appear suspended in mid-motion, Adeniyi-Jones’s large-scale lithograph recalls celebratory dancing and invokes the repetitive movement of ritualized ceremonial processes.

The artist, who was born in London to Nigerian parents and has lived in both the United Kingdom and the United States, often centers his work around notions of identity and views the body as a powerful vehicle for storytelling that transcends boundaries and borders.

This photograph features Adeniyi-Jones standing in front of his first lithographs hung on the wall, dated 2022. Photo by Rafael Rios

Adeniyi-Jones worked with Andrew Mockler of Jungle Press Editions, a small independent print shop in Brooklyn, to create Sunrisers, the artist’s first lithograph. Photo by Rafael Rios

Adeniyi-Jones worked with Andrew Mockler of Jungle Press Editions, a small independent print shop in Brooklyn, to create Sunrisers, the artist’s first lithograph. Photo by Rafael Rios

The figures in my work are expressions of my identity and there is something very rewarding about using the body as a vehicle for storytelling.
—Tunji Adeniyi-Jones

Adeniyi-Jones’s broad range of references includes mythology, Yoruba culture, cubism, and pop art.

Sunrisers derives from twentieth-century West African art, including the work of Nigerian artists Bruce Onobrakpeya and Olu Amoda, and in particular Ben Enwonwu’s Negritude series, which explores the anti-colonial cultural and political ideology of the 1930s movement of the same name.

A detail from Ben Enwonwu’s Negritude series

Ben Enwonwu, Negritude, 1985. © The Ben Enwonwu Foundation 2022

Ben Enwonwu, Negritude, 1985. © The Ben Enwonwu Foundation 2022

This photograph features Adeniyi-Jones working at Jungle Press Editions print shop, dated 2022. Photo by Rafael Rios

Adeniyi-Jones has said the experience of drawing on the limestone, which has a particular softness and texture to its surface, influenced the sense of depth in his newest body of paintings. Photo by Rafael Rios

Adeniyi-Jones has said the experience of drawing on the limestone, which has a particular softness and texture to its surface, influenced the sense of depth in his newest body of paintings. Photo by Rafael Rios

This photograph features the artist exploring his imagery through studies in ink pen on paper, seen here at his workspace at Jungle Press Editions print shop. Photo by Rafael Rios

The artist often explores his imagery through studies in ink pen, watercolor, or graphite on paper, seen here at his workspace at Jungle Press Editions. Photo by Rafael Rios

The artist often explores his imagery through studies in ink pen, watercolor, or graphite on paper, seen here at his workspace at Jungle Press Editions. Photo by Rafael Rios

This photograph features Adeniyi-Jones drawing with a greasy crayon on a limestone slab as part of the stone lithography process, photo by Rafael Rios

Adeniyi-Jones draws with a greasy crayon on a limestone slab as part of the stone lithography process, which enables an artist to draw on a surface rather than working in relief. Most lithography stones come from a single quarry, limiting the number in existence. Jungle Press Editions holds some of the largest stones in New York, providing Adeniyi-Jones the opportunity to work at this scale. Photo by Rafael Rios

Adeniyi-Jones draws with a greasy crayon on a limestone slab as part of the stone lithography process, which enables an artist to draw on a surface rather than working in relief. Most lithography stones come from a single quarry, limiting the number in existence. Jungle Press Editions holds some of the largest stones in New York, providing Adeniyi-Jones the opportunity to work at this scale. Photo by Rafael Rios

A photograph featuring a stone panel with two figures curled up floating on the surface in purple color, photo by Rafael Rios

Adeniyi-Jones made his line drawing on the stone using a greasy crayon. Mockler then moistened the stone with water and rolled oil-based ink onto it. The greasy areas of the stone where the artist has drawn pick up the ink, while the wet parts do not. Photo by Rafael Rios

Adeniyi-Jones made his line drawing on the stone using a greasy crayon. Mockler then moistened the stone with water and rolled oil-based ink onto it. The greasy areas of the stone where the artist has drawn pick up the ink, while the wet parts do not. Photo by Rafael Rios

This photograph features Mockler pulling an early trial proof of Sunrisers. Photo by Rafael Rios

Mockler pulls an early trial proof of Sunrisers. Photo by Rafael Rios

Mockler pulls an early trial proof of Sunrisers. Photo by Rafael Rios

A photograph of Adeniyi-Jones signing his Sunrisers print at Jungle Press Editions. Photo by Rafael Rios

Adeniyi-Jones signs his Sunrisers print at Jungle Press Editions. Photo by Rafael Rios

Adeniyi-Jones signs his Sunrisers print at Jungle Press Editions. Photo by Rafael Rios

    Read More Read Less

      Read More Read Less