Odur Ronald (b. 1992 in Uganda) is a multidisciplinary visual artist. He mainly uses aluminum printing plates by exploring its possibilities, one technique at a time by not only painting on the aluminum sheets, but also dents, burns, layers, stitches and weaves the shiny metal thus achieving texture, color, shape and character.
He seeks to tackle his ideas from different vantage points that may reveal themselves as sculptures, installations, paintings and performance. In his work, He vividly expresses the themes and narratives in the complexities of social-political interactions and their influence in the contemporary world. His work addresses contemporary issues of power, movement, access, belonging and personhood.
Growing up near the biggest scrap dealing community in Katwe one of the suburbs of Kampala, Uganda, Odur’s attachment to aluminum dates back to his scrap collecting childhood days that fetched him some money to acquire toys for himself, an experience that has clearly influenced and shaped the nature of his practice as a contemporary artist.
Odur graduated in Interior Design at Kyambogo University, Uganda in 2017. His work has been featured and shown in several exhibitions and biennales both globally and in his home country Uganda, at the Dak’art Biennale 2024 and the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024, at Afriart Gallery (Uganda), the African Union Headquarters (Ethiopia), CoCuDI Center (Israel) and Ugly Duck London, to mention but a few. He will be showing a large-scale installation piece at the Liverpool Biennale in 2025.
Selected Press:
Giulia Menegale for Contemporary And: ODUR RONALD: WHY IS IT EASIER FOR RAW COTTOM TO EUROPEAN CAPITALS THAN FOR UGANDAN PEOPLE TO TRAVEL ANYWHERE?. 2024
The System: IN CONVERSATION WITH ODUR RONALD. 2024
Nantume Violet for Artforum: ODUR RONALD. 2021.
