ruby onyinyechi amanze

ruby onyinyechi amanze (b. 1982 in Port Harcourt, Nigeria; lives and works in Philadelphia, PA)  composes drawings that defy the two-dimensional bounds of paper. Her objects float across the pages, untethered by indicators of gravity, space, or time. Seven recurring shapes, including motorcycles, architecture, “ada” the swimmer dancer who is frequently in intimate exchanges with “audre” the leopard, paper, birds, and pools of water, are collaged together in endless renditions directed toward sensations, rather than conveying a narrative. 

All the forms are free from the restrictions of gravity; all sense of directionality is lost, and they are light and unbounded. The minimalism of amanze’s work is juxtaposed by a sense of limitlessness and depth; the universes in amanze’s drawings are nameless, the only elements that place the shapes in a recognizable world come from photography. amanze uses the element of water through photographic transfer, diluting inks, and leaving traces of drip marks or stains on the bright pale paper, which create marks of movement that shimmer off the page, and reflect into space.   

ruby onyinyechi amanze was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholars Award in Drawing to the University of Nigeria (Nsukka, Nigeria), an Open Sessions participant at The Drawing Center (New York, NY) and artist-in-residence at the Queens Museum (Flushings, NY) and the Spring Workshop (Hong Kong, China). She has participated in residencies such as the Fountainhead Residency (Miami, FL), and Gas Works Residency (Lagos, Nigeria). Her work has been included in the Drawing Biennial at the Drawing Room (London, UK) in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2026. In 2026, MTA Arts & Design unveiled May Your Road Be Light and Fun, a permanent mosaic installation by amanze at Borough Hall Station in Brooklyn, New York.

She has exhibited her work at the Centre for Contemporary Art (Lagos, Nigeria), Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (Brooklyn, NY), Studio Museum of Harlem (New York, NY), Contemporary Art Museum (Raleigh, NC), Queens Museum (New York, NY), Museum of the African Diaspora (San Francisco, CA), Studio Museum of Harlem (New York, NY), Maryland Institute College of Art (Baltimore, MD), among others. 

In 2019, amanze was named the Deutsche Bank Featured Artist at Frieze New York. Her work is collected by the Deutsche Bank Art Collection (Frankfurt, Germany), CSS Bard College Hessel Museum (Annandale-on-Hudson, NY), Smithsonian National Museum of African Art (Washington, DC), New Orleans Museum of Art (New Orleans, LA), Jewish Museum (New York, NY) and the Studio Museum in Harlem (New York, NY).