Hamburger Bahnhof presents figurative drawings by Toyin Ojih Odutola that interplay between history and representation. These narrative portraits trace the lives of various characters and incorporate every day or monumental settings, often interwoven with architectural details. Ojih Odutola will transform the museum’s east cabinet into “Adijatu Straße,” a station on the fictional U22 underground line, in order to thematise the interplay of movement and history.

Shaped by the artist’s upbringing as a West African woman in the American South, Ojih Odutola’s work examines social and political dynamics through the vehicle of skin, the fluidity of expression, and the meaning of darkness and light. The artist's first solo exhibition in Germany will show around 25 works drawn on paper, board and linen.

Toyin Ojih Odutola (born 1985 in Ife, Nigeria, lives and works in New York, USA) places the human figure at the centre of her work and uses traditional drawing media such as ink, charcoal, and pastel to create large-scale, intricate portraits. Ojih Odutola constructs complex fictional mythologies in her narrative works, challenging viewers to question power dynamics, colonial history, and perceptions of African expression and sexual orientation. She has recently presented exhibitions at Kunsthalle Basel (Switzerland), SFMOMA (California, USA), Barbican Centre (United Kingdom), Whitney Museum (New York, USA), and her work was featured in the Nigerian Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale 2024.

The exhibition opens in conjunction with the third edition of the admission-free Open House weekend from Friday, 13 June 2025, to Sunday, 15 June 2025, which also marks the beginning of this year's open-air DJ series Berlin Beats.

Exhibition Catalogue

Accompanying the exhibition is the twelfth edition of the Hamburger Bahnhof catalogue series, published by Silvana Editoriale Milano, comprising 116 pages, available at the Hamburger Bahnhof bookstore and through the Buchhandlung Walther König webshop for €12. ISBN: 9788836660773

Curators

The exhibition is curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, directors of Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. Assistant curator Emily Finkelstein, Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart.

A special exhibition of the Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin