I (body) migrated from Lagos, Nigeria, to the U.S. (space) in 2013, arriving with a fragile and intimate archive of three physical photographs (object) of myself (memory). This experience of displacement, grounded in my Yorùbá and Afrodiasporic sensibilities, expands my practice as a nexus where objects, bodies, and spaces function disparately and relationally as a ritualistic topography for memory and meaning-making. I map corporeal, material, and spatial relationships across painting, collage, sculpture, performance, experimental film, and installation—excavating their phenomenological & spiritual possibilities and examining their spiritual, formal, sensory, social, cultural, and political significance beyond linear narratives. In doing so, my work meditates critically upon the ways we are shaped and transformed by what we experience, carry, and what sustain us; by what is known and yet to be remembered, seen and unseen; and by what refuses erasure & lingers in the fragments.
photo by Phillip Muriel
Bio
VILLAGER (b. Abdulrasheed Adekunle Adaranijo), they/them is a Nigerian-born Transdisciplinary Artist, Cultural Producer, and African Spirituality Practitioner whose painting, collage, sculpture, performance, experimental film, installation, curation, and cultural facilitation work actively maps the intersections of material memory & intelligence, Yorùbá knowledge production, and postcolonial contemporary African identity as an evolving topography of critical inquiry. Their work uncovers and challenges the sublime, confluent, and often contradictory forces that shape "tradition" —the evolution and dissemination of tradition: culture, history, identity, consciousness, and belonging —as it slips and strengthens through the contours of time, spirit, place, memory, and material.
VILLAGER is formally trained as a Water Microbiologist and Environmental Researcher, earning a B.S. in Environmental Chemistry from Towson University in 2020, stepping away from their Master's program in Marine Estuary Environmental Science at UMBC in 2022 to pursue a dedicated and directed studio practice. VILLAGER has been the subject of solo exhibitions–"Devotion, Dreams, and Destiny" at the Eubie Blake Cultural Center (2025), "(O)KAN: recent works by VILLAGER (2025), ÀṢẸ: Embodying the Divine (2024), and BUSH BOY! (2022) in Baltimore, MD. Their visual art practice continues to find resonance through group exhibitions both stateside and internationally including, Sou(l): Mostra de Arte Afro-Diaspórica, Artspace Vigidal, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Diasporic Crossing, Southside Contemporary, Richmond, VA, BLAQ SHEEP, Superchief Gallery LA, Los Angeles, CA, AFROFUTURISM: 100 years after the Harlem Renaissance, Papermill Playhouse, Millburn, NJ, B24 (Best in Baltimore) Artscape Exhibition, Riggs Gallery & Leidy Gallery (MICA), Baltimore, MD to name a few. VILLAGER's performance practice has garnered institutional commissions and invitations at The Peale Museum, THE ROUSE COMPANY FOUNDATION GALLERY, Creative Alliance, and Maryland Art Place. Their artwork can be found in private art collections in Los Angeles, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Rio de Janeiro.
Beyond the studio, VILLAGER has presented lectures at Maryland Institute College of Art, Yale University, Towson University, and Morgan State University. In 2025, they also served as a Guest Teaching Artist for the Baltimore Museum of Art’s Art After Hours program, facilitating a drop-in art-making workshop in conjunction with the Amy Sherald: American Sublime exhibition. Their work has been featured in publications such as WBAL-TV, DGX Magazine, BmoreArt, the Baltimore Banner, and NUNAR, and has received several awards, including the Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award (2024) and, most recently, the Baltimore Mayor’s Office Individual Artist Award (2025).
“VILLAGER digs deeper into the conceptual ideation of ancestral traditions by mindfully documenting the subtle sacredness of our material and immaterial world. By emphasizing the vibrancy of what he believes reflects his sitters' true nature and distinct energetic signature in the world, VILLAGER hopes his paintings remind us all about the power of our interconnected reality; we can heal ourselves and each other by honoring our humanity,” says Art Historian and writer, Angela N. Carroll.
"VILLAGER is an essential new talent on the Baltimore Art Movement scene. Their work excavates history to weave and cultivate a depth of African Diasporic themes, motifs, tales, and heritage into these most modern artworks. His paintings emerge from layers upon layers of stories, patterns, and images until they arrive at the perfect picture for the moment. VILLAGER's work serves as a contemporary artful documentation of diasporic life" says BOPA Senior Curator and Public Art and Curation Manager, Kirk Shannon-Butts.
