Odur Ronald
Odur Ronald (b.1992) is a multi-disciplinary 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. The material has been part of him though serving a different purpose rather than creating art from a means to earn a little extra money as a child,a platform of self-expression was brought to life.
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, Lithuania, (2023), silent invasions, Amasaka art gallery, Uganda 2023, “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), Beyond Sculpture, Afriart Gallery, (2024), Uganda, Dakar Biennale, Dakar, Senegal, (2024). Art Across Boarders ArtX Lagos Art Fair, Lagos, Nigeria, (2024). Liverpool Biennale, UK, Liverpool, (2025). Liste Art Fair, Afriart, Basel Switzerland (2025) He is the winner of the Mukumbya Musoke Art Prize.
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. The material has been part of him though serving a different purpose rather than creating art from a means to earn a little extra money as a child,a platform of self-expression was brought to life.
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, Lithuania, (2023), silent invasions, Amasaka art gallery, Uganda 2023, “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), Beyond Sculpture, Afriart Gallery, (2024), Uganda, Dakar Biennale, Dakar, Senegal, (2024). Art Across Boarders ArtX Lagos Art Fair, Lagos, Nigeria, (2024). Liverpool Biennale, UK, Liverpool, (2025). Liste Art Fair, Afriart, Basel Switzerland (2025) He is the winner of the Mukumbya Musoke Art Prize.