Adebunmi Gbadebo is a young Newark-based artist who uses human Black hair as her sole medium. With this material, she has made the people the art, and the art the people. Gbadebo uses the strands of DNA to explore themes of beauty, power, and history by sculpting the human hair she receives from neighborhood barbershops and countless people into minimalist but conceptual structures.
While simultaneously earning a BFA as an undergrad at the School of Visual Arts, Gbadebo received early success exhibiting in her first year-long solo show at Rutgers University, which was mentioned in the New York Times. She has also exhibited at the Jacob Javits Center, Monmouth University, Kean University, Newark Open Doors, SVA’s galleries, and other venues in the NY/NJ area. In April 2017 she will be exhibiting at Gallery Aferro in Newark, NJ. Outside of her art practice Adebunmi spends her time teaching art to Youth with disabilities and Seniors at Arts Unbound in Orange, NJ, and volunteers at the Studio Museum of Harlem through their Education Department.
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