Njideka Akunyili Crosby Nwantinti
 Cosmetic Bag

Using a variety of materials, Njideka Akunyili Crosby creates large-scale paintings that often depict intimate scenes inspired by her daily life.

This work’s title refers to Nelly Uchendu’s popular 1976 rendition of an Igbo folk song that describes the experience of finding true love. Akunyili Crosby employs a photo-transfer technique to incorporate the album’s cover art and other personal and culturally significant images into a collage. The photos blend into the private space of a bedroom, where the artist gazes tenderly at her partner. 

Njideka Akunyili Crosby is a 2011-12 Studio Museum in Harlem artist in residence. 


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100% Cotton, 6.7 × 8.5 in.

Njideka Akunyili Crosby (b. 1983)
Nwantinti, 2012
Acrylic, pastel, charcoal, colored pencil, and Xerox transfers on paper
68 × 96 in.
The Studio Museum in Harlem; Museum purchase with funds provided by the Acquisition Committee and gift of the artist  2012.35