Yinka Ilori

Yinka Ilori is a London based multidisciplinary artist of a British-Nigerian heritage, who specialises in storytelling by fusing his British and Nigerian heritage to tell new stories in contemporary design. He began his practice in 2011 up-cycling vintage furniture, inspired by the traditional Nigerian parables and West African fabrics that surrounded him as a child.

Humorous, provocative and fun, each piece of furniture he creates tells a story, bringing Nigerian verbal traditions into playful conversation with contemporary design.

The studio now consists of a team of colour-obsessed architects and designers, with the expertise and capacity to take on large-scale architectural and interior design projects. The studio continues to experiment with the relationship between function and form, with an output that sits between traditional divisions of art and design.

We’re ready to take on new challenges, if you have an idea for a project or collaboration, please do get in touch!

Solo Exhibitions: If Chairs Could Talk, The Shop At Bluebird, 2015; This is Where It Started, The Whitespace Gallery, Lagos, 2014; Just Africa, Stockholm, 2014; It Started With a Parable, Jaguar Shoes, London Design Week, 2013.

Group exhibitions: KNIT!, Kvadrat, Copenhagen, 2020; Home Affairs, Now Gallery, London 2015; Making Africa, Vitra Design Museum, Basel, 2015 touring to Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, 2015; Africa Calling, Africa Utopia, Southbank Centre, London 2014; Creative Britain feature stand, British European Design Group, International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF), New York, 2012.