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Adejoke Tugbiyele (Nigerian–American, born 1977). <em>AfroQueer</em>, 2014. Palm stems, steel, wire, metal, wood, US dollar bills, 23 5/8 x 29 15/16 x 59 13/16 in. (60 x 76 x 151.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 2015.42. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2015.42_PS9.jpg)
Adejoke Tugbiyele (Nigerian–American, born 1977). AfroQueer, 2014. Palm stems, steel, wire, metal, wood, US dollar bills, 23 5/8 x 29 15/16 x 59 13/16 in. (60 x 76 x 151.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 2015.42. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2015.42_PS9.jpg)
Adejoke Tugbiyele (Nigerian–American, born 1977). <em>AfroQueer</em>, 2014. Palm stems, steel, wire, metal, wood, US dollar bills, 23 5/8 x 29 15/16 x 59 13/16 in. (60 x 76 x 151.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 2015.42. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2015.42_PS9.jpg)

Adejoke Tugbiyele (Nigerian–American, born 1977). AfroQueer, 2014. Palm stems, steel, wire, metal, wood, US dollar bills, 23 5/8 x 29 15/16 x 59 13/16 in. (60 x 76 x 151.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 2015.42. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2015.42_PS9.jpg)

Adejoke Tugbiyele (Nigerian–American, born 1977). <em>AfroQueer</em>, 2014. Palm stems, steel, wire, metal, wood, US dollar bills, 23 5/8 x 29 15/16 x 59 13/16 in. (60 x 76 x 151.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 2015.42. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2015.42_detail1_PS9.jpg)

Adejoke Tugbiyele (Nigerian–American, born 1977). AfroQueer, 2014. Palm stems, steel, wire, metal, wood, US dollar bills, 23 5/8 x 29 15/16 x 59 13/16 in. (60 x 76 x 151.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 2015.42. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2015.42_detail1_PS9.jpg)

Adejoke Tugbiyele (Nigerian–American, born 1977). <em>AfroQueer</em>, 2014. Palm stems, steel, wire, metal, wood, US dollar bills, 23 5/8 x 29 15/16 x 59 13/16 in. (60 x 76 x 151.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 2015.42. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2015.42_detail2_PS9.jpg)

Adejoke Tugbiyele (Nigerian–American, born 1977). AfroQueer, 2014. Palm stems, steel, wire, metal, wood, US dollar bills, 23 5/8 x 29 15/16 x 59 13/16 in. (60 x 76 x 151.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 2015.42. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2015.42_detail2_PS9.jpg)

Adejoke Tugbiyele (Nigerian–American, born 1977). <em>AfroQueer</em>, 2014. Palm stems, steel, wire, metal, wood, US dollar bills, 23 5/8 x 29 15/16 x 59 13/16 in. (60 x 76 x 151.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 2015.42. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.2015.42.jpg)

Adejoke Tugbiyele (Nigerian–American, born 1977). AfroQueer, 2014. Palm stems, steel, wire, metal, wood, US dollar bills, 23 5/8 x 29 15/16 x 59 13/16 in. (60 x 76 x 151.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 2015.42. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.2015.42.jpg)

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AfroQueer

Adejoke Tugbiyele

Arts of Africa

Homeless Hungry Homo comments on how gay Africans are . . . oftentimes more likely to end up in poverty because of the dual criminalization and demonization of same-sex love, by the government and the church respectively. It also comments on the fear of poverty as a result of coming out, and the notion that people will choose to remain “masked” and in the closet for that reason.
— Adejoke Tugbiyele

Tragically, the sort of binary-free, autonomous space artists like Jacolby Satterwhite celebrate is not always available, particularly in parts of contemporary Africa. Adejoke Tugbiyele’s art advocates for richer and more humane understandings of identity and status, particularly with regard to sexual orientation.

Here, Tugbiyele takes discarded and low-value materials, including palm stems, and weaves them into a figure imbued with the colors of the gay pride flag. At the same time, the figure sits in a gesture that evokes a life lived on the streets and wears a mask to conceal the subject’s identity.
ARTIST Adejoke Tugbiyele, Nigerian–American, born 1977
MEDIUM Palm stems, steel, wire, metal, wood, US dollar bills
DATES 2014
DIMENSIONS 23 5/8 x 29 15/16 x 59 13/16 in. (60 x 76 x 151.9 cm)  (show scale)
COLLECTIONS Arts of Africa
ACCESSION NUMBER 2015.42
CREDIT LINE Frank L. Babbott Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION The title of this work has changed since it was on view in the exhibition, "Disguise: Masks and Global African Art" in 2016. The change in title stems from general misunderstandings by audiences and to clarify as well as underscore the empowering and uplifting intentions of the artist.
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Adejoke Tugbiyele (Nigerian–American, born 1977). AfroQueer, 2014. Palm stems, steel, wire, metal, wood, US dollar bills, 23 5/8 x 29 15/16 x 59 13/16 in. (60 x 76 x 151.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 2015.42. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2015.42_PS9.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 2015.42_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2015
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT © Adejoke Tugbiyele
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Adejoke Tugbiyele (Nigerian–American, born 1977). <em>AfroQueer</em>, 2014. Palm stems, steel, wire, metal, wood, US dollar bills, 23 5/8 x 29 15/16 x 59 13/16 in. (60 x 76 x 151.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 2015.42. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2015.42_PS9.jpg)

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