Derek Fordjour was born in 1974 in Memphis, Tennessee to parents of Ghanaian heritage. He earned a BA at Morehouse College before receiving an MEd in Arts Education at Harvard University and an MFA in painting at Hunter College. He was recently appointed the Alex Katz Chair at Cooper Union and serves as a Core Critic at the Yale School of Art. He was named the 2016 Sugarhill Museum Artist-in-Residence and the 2018 Deutsche Bank NYFA Fellow.
Recently one-person exhibitions were held at the Pond Society, Shanghai; Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis; and Petzel Gallery, New York. His work is included in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum; Dallas Museum of Art; Guggenheim Museum, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Pérez Art Museum Miami; The Studio Museum of Harlem, New York; and Whitney Museum, New York among others. The Metropolitan Transit Authority of New York commissioned Fordjour to create a series of mosaics for Manhattan’s 145th Street subway station which were unveiled in 2018
“The process of painting is at once humble and intricate; he covers a canvas or wood board with cardboard tiles, foil and other materials, and wraps it in newspaper (always The Financial Times, for its warm, salmon hue). The process repeats several times, with Mr. Fordjour applying washes of paint, then tearing and carving the accumulating surface as he goes.”
Siddhartha Mitter, “Derek Fordjour, From Anguish to Transcendence,” The New York Times, November 19, 2020
Derek Fordjour
Regatta Study
2020
Acrylic, charcoal, bituminous coal, oil pastel and foil on newspaper mounted on canvas
65 x 100 inches
Derek Fordjour
Three Bend Deep
2019
Acrylic, charcoal, oil pastel and foil on newspaper mounted on canvas
63 x 103 inches
Derek Fordjour
Five Down Wide
2019
Acrylic, charcoal, oil pastel and foil on newspaper mounted on canvas
Derek Fordjour
Signing Day
2019
Acrylic, charcoal, oil pastel and foil on newspaper mounted on canvas
Derek Fordjour
Stable
2019
Acrylic, charcoal, oil pastel and foil on newspaper mounted on canvas
Derek Fordjour
Triumvirate
2019
Mixed media
85 x 48 inches
Derek Fordjour
Untitled
2019
Acrylic, charcoal, oil pastel and foil on newspaper mounted on canvas
60 x 40 inches
Derek Fordjour
Worst to be First II
2019
Acrylic, charcoal, oil pastel and foil on newspaper mounted on canvas,
82.5 x 42.5 inches
Derek Fordjour
Alpha Physical Culture Club of Harlem
2018
Acrylic, charcoal, oil pastel and foil on newspaper mounted on canvas
Derek Fordjour
Backbend Double
2018
Acrylic, charcoal, and oil pastel on newspaper mounted on canvas
Derek Fordjour
Blanc Sur Blanc
2018
Acrylic, charcoal, oil pastel and foil on newspaper mounted on canvas
Derek Fordjour
Camelot
2018
Acrylic, charcoal, oil pastel and foil on newspaper mounted on canvas
90 x 42 inches
Derek Fordjour
Haberdashery
2018
Acrylic, charcoal, oil pastel and foil on newspaper mounted on canvas
Derek Fordjour
Lotto
2018
Acrylic, charcoal, oil pastel and foil on newspaper mounted on canvas
Derek Fordjour
Numbers
2018
Acrylic, charcoal, oil pastel and spray paint on newspaper mounted on canvas
Derek Fordjour
Podium
2018
Acrylic, charcoal, oil pastel and foil on newspaper mounted on canvas
Derek Fordjour
Protective Covenants & Restrictions
2018
Acrylic, charcoal, oil pastel and foil on newspaper mounted on canvas
72 x 48 inches
Derek Fordjour
Red Stripe Pivot
2018
Acrylic, charcoal, oil pastel and foil on newspaper mounted on canvas
60 x 40 inches
Derek Fordjour
Roll Tide Turn
2018
Acrylic, charcoal, and oil pastel on newspaper mounted on canvas
72 x 48 inches
Derek Fordjour
Showstopper Double
2018
Acrylic, charcoal, oil pastel and foil on newspaper mounted on canvas
Derek Fordjour
Starters 25
2018
Acrylic, charcoal, and oil pastel on newspaper mounted on canvas
30 x 98 inches
Derek Fordjour
Tandem Green
2018
Acrylic, charcoal, oil pastel and foil on newspaper mounted on canvas
Derek Fordjour
Tandem White
2018
Acrylic, charcoal, oil pastel and foil on newspaper mounted on canvas
60 x 40 inches
Derek Fordjour
Two More Years
2018
Acrylic, charcoal, oil pastel and foil on newspaper mounted on canvas
Derek Fordjour
Tandem Blue
2017
Acrylic, charcoal, oil pastel and foil on newspaper mounted on canvas
Installation view, Derek Fordjour, SHELTER, Contemporary Arts Museum, St. Louis, MO, January 17 – August 23, 2020
Installation view, Derek Fordjour, SHELTER, Contemporary Arts Museum, St. Louis, MO, January 17 – August 23, 2020
Installation view, Derek Fordjour, SHELTER, Contemporary Arts Museum, St. Louis, MO, January 17 – August 23, 2020
Self Must Die, Petzel Gallery, New York, November 12 – December 19, 2020
Installation view, Derek Fordjour, Gestalt , 2021, Pond Society, Shanghai, May 15 – July 2, 2021
Installation view, Derek Fordjour, Gestalt , 2021, Pond Society, Shanghai, May 15 – July 2, 2021
