Marcia Kure

Marcia Kure (b. 1970) is a Nigerian visual artist known primarily for her mixed media paintings and drawings which 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 Obiora Udechukwu, graduating in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts in painting.

Professional career and work
Kure's early work focused on political violence and the agency of women in patriarchal society. Her later work is concerned with themes related to motherhood, haute couture fashion, and hip-hop aesthetics. She is represented by Susan Inglett Gallery (New York), Purdy Hicks Gallery (London) and Officine Dell'Immagine (Milan).

In a 2015 interview for ARTCTUALITE, Kure articulated the influence of space on her work, stating that she "[tries] 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 prefer the gray 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.'"

Exhibitions and collections
Kure had her New York debut at the Skoto Gallery in 1995. Solo exhibitions have included: From January to March 2014, Kure was artist-in-residence at London's Victoria and Albert Museum.
 * Goethe-Institut, Lagos
 * Purdy Hicks Gallery, London
 * Susan Inglett Gallery, New York.

Group exhibitions include:
 * Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art
 * New Museum, New York
 * Barbican Art Galleries, London
 * National Gallery of Art, Lagos
 * WIELS Contemporary Art Center, Brussels

Her work can be found in the following collections:
 * British Museum
 * Centre Pompidou
 * National Museum of African Art
 * Smithsonian Institution
 * The Newark Museum
 * North Carolina Museum of Art
 * Cleveland Clinic
 * Sindika Dokolo Foundation, Luanda, Angola
 * United States Embassy, Abuja.

Kure has participated in:
 * 2005 Sharjah International Biennial (2005)
 * 2006: International Biennial of Contemporary Art, Seville (directed by Okwui Enwezor)
 * 2013: La Triennial

Prizes/awards/grants

 * 1994: Uche Okeke Prize for drawing
 * 2004: Elena Prentice Rulon-Miller Scholarship Fund/Minority Work Study Grant, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts
 * 2007 - 2008: Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship
 * 2007 - 2008: Program Puffin Grant for Burqua as Shelter sculpture, Charleston, South Carolina

Teaching

 * 2004: Teaching Internship, St. Mark’s School, Southborough, Massachusetts
 * 2019: Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm, Sweden