Yinka Ilori: In Conversation with Andy Campell

As part of the Interior Design Program's annual Emily Summers Craft & Artisanship in Interior Design visiting artist event, Yinka Ilori and Andy Campell will join us for an in-depth conversation on the role of making and meaning in contemporary practice.

About Yinka llori

Yinka Ilori is a multi-disciplinary artist and designer whose bold visual language draws on his British-Nigerian heritage to convey new narratives through contemporary design. Drawing on Nigerian parables and verbal traditions, Ilori touches on a multitude of themes that resonate with a global audience. His work is underpinned by the belief that art and design should be accessible to all. Humorous, provocative and playful, his projects demonstrate how design can bring together communities and have a positive impact on society, evoking a sense of joy and optimism. Often using the city as his canvas, he reimagines spaces to encourage a sense of community and invites audiences to engage and participate in his work and its surroundings. Holding a bachelor of art in Furniture and Product Design from London Metropolitan University, Ilori’s work has been showcased globally through solo and group exhibitions, public commissions and set and exhibition design. Ilori holds an honorary doctorate from the University for the Creative Arts in London.  

About Andy Campbell

Andy Campbell is associate professor of critical studies and director of the graduate program in Curatorial Practices and the Public Sphere at the University of Southern California. He is an art historian, critic and curator whose work foregrounds LGBTQ communities and their archives as wellsprings for histories of art and design. He is the author of Bound Together: Leather, Sex, Archives, and Contemporary Art (Manchester University Press, 2020) and Queer X Design: 50 Years of Signs, Symbols, Banners, Logos, and Graphic Art of LGBTQ (Black Dog and Leventhal, 2019), as well as co-editor of the catalog Queer Communion: Ron Athey (Intellect 2020), named one of the “Best Art Books of 2020” by The New York Times His criticism and academic writing can be found in Artforum, The Invisible Archive, X-TRA, GLQ, Dress, Aperture, and other venues.