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 group exhibitions such as The Kampala Art Biennale curated by Simon Njami (2018), The Last Image Show “The Silence” Tanzania and Zambia, (2018), The East African Biennale, Tanzania (2019), (Im)perfections, a duo exhibition, Afriart Gallery (2020), East Meets East, The New Gallery, CoCuDI Center, Jerusalem (2020), The collector’s collection exhibition, Motiv (2021), KLA ART 21, 32° East Ugandan Art Trust (2021), Where The Wild Things Are, Afriart Gallery (2021) Our Africa Our Future exhibition, African Union Headquarters, Addis Ababa Ethiopia. 14th Kaunas biennale, Latvia 2023, silent invasions, Amasaka art gallery, Uganda, The Republic of This and That solo exhibition, Afropocene capsule, (2023), welcome to the UK, Ugly Duck, London, (2024), 60th Venice biennale, Uganda pavilion, Italy (2024), Uganda. Dakar Biennale, Dakar, Senegal, (2024).
He is the winner of the Mukumbya Musoke Art Prize 2020 and one of the recipients of the Prince Claus Seed Award 2020, one of the short-listed artists and received an honorable mention for the Alpine fellowship Art Prize 2022, UK. He has been part of an Art residency by 32° East Ugandan Art Trust at Centre Soleil d’Afrique Mali, (2020), Silhouette project art residency at Afriart Gallery, (2020) and The African Union art residency at Loman Art, Dakar Senegal (2022), Gasworks, London, UK, (2024).
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.
