Temi Wynston Edun is a contemporary abstract figurative artist who lives and works in Columbia, Maryland. Born in Ibadan, West Africa, the first of six children, his intense and brooding portraits explore social, political, and psychological themes of the Black experience. His engaging figures capture phenotypic features of people of sub-Saharan heritage that he calls “Africanness” in a unique and distinctive use of mark making. Scale portraits and figures, usually isolated in spare or abstract backgrounds, emphasize the facial stares and expressions of the subjects, transporting the viewer to a level of intimacy and engagement with the work. This intimacy is the focal objective of the artist’s creations. Nothing tells the story of humanity like the face of a human. I am fascinated by faces and the stories they tell, I look for "interesting faces" more so than beautiful ones. But, to me, interesting is not enough. A portrait must be engaging and emotive, be able to tell a story without words and to communicate with the viewer in an unspoken dialogue of innovative ideas and insights, and of some shared experiences. From an early age, Edun’s talent was recognized. He won multiple awards as a child including a competition in 1979 for his design of a poster commemorating UNESCO’s International Year of the Child. While a teenager studying at Edo College in Benin City, Nigeria (high school), his portrait of the Oba of Benin (the traditional ruler of the Edo people) was presented to the Oba. In 1984, Wynston earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Benin in Benin City, Nigeria, where he graduated with honors. One of his large-scale metal sculptures is still exhibited in a gardenat the university. After graduation, Edun had exhibitions of his work in both Benin City and in Lagos, Nigeria. In 1990, after migrating to the U.S., he received a commission to design a work of art for the Howard University Gospel Choir. From 1990 to 1993, Wynston worked and studied under internationally acclaimed Baltimore-based artist Larry “Poncho” Brown. Edun’s work has been exhibited in galleries throughout his home state of Maryland and internationally such as Paris in 2022 and London in 2021. His work has been in international publications such as New American Paintings, Issue Number 166. His work, “Just get over it (they say),” was featured on the Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures. In 2018, the DC Black Repertory Company commissioned Wynston to paint the portrait of the repertory’s founding actor and Hollywood legend, Robert Hooks. Wynston Edun volunteers as a teacher to both young and older aspiring artists at Bridgeway Community Church in Columbia, MD and is a member of a number of artists’ organizations including the Maryland Federation of Art.

b. 1964, Ibadan, Nigeria
Lives and works in Maryland, USA

EDUCATION
1984 BFA, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria

EXHIBITIONS
2024
Night Swimming, Steven Zevitas Gallery, Boston, MD
2022
Strokes of Genius, Circle Gallery, Annapolis, MD
Being Seen, TAG Gallery, Frederick, MD
My Profile, The Koppel Project, Mayfair, London UK
Human Faces, Las Laguna Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
AKAA, Cateau du Tempe, Paris France
2021
Cladogram, Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY
Springing Forward, Create Magazine, Virtual Exhibition
Good Bones, I Like Your Work, Virtual Exhibition
2020
Bethesda Painting Awards, Gallery B, Bethesda, MD
Woman 2020, Circle Gallery, Annapolis, MD
2018
African Kaleidoscope, Serengeti Gallery, Washington, DC

COLLECTIONS
Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY
The Swahili Village, Washington, DC, New York, New Jersey
Dress Up, Basel, Switzerland

PUBLICATIONS AND AWARDS
New American Paintings -2023
LEDA SUMMIT ON RACE AND INCLUSION – 2021
Rehumanizing the Black Countenance – Artist Talk
The Washington Post – October 2022
Bethesda Painting Awards – 2020