Toyin Loye was born in 1959 into a traditional royal house in Ijebu Jesa, Nigeria.
He studied Fine Art at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile Ife. He now lives and works in the Hague, the Netherlands. More recently, he has been developing new ways of working with different materials and media. His work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions throughout galleries in Nigeria, Senegal, Argentina, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, United Kingdom, Australia, United States, Germany, Spain, Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands. Toyin Loye was commissioned by FIFA along with Andreas Gursky, Luo Brothers, Markus Lupetz and others to create the official Art Poster for the Germany 2006 World Cup.

Moving Space II

We are all delivered into a fleeting lifetime upon a vast and fast moving highway. We traipse across a multi-layered cultural canvas packed with an infinite spectrum of colour and texture. Occasionally we surface from the sea of swirling people and find our breaths before submerging back into the swell of our migratory waters.

Our interconnected journeys often share the same unknown destination. But what is it that we bring for such a ride of a lifetime? What is it that we gather to carry with us? What tools for survival do we need?

Toyin Loye encounters these thoughts and begins to unwrap and unfold the very inner bundles and boxes that we herd around with us. He reveals that regardless of who you are to become on this brilliant globe, we all share the same criss-crossing, overlapping series of unforetold footsteps that walk us towards the warmth of a hopeful horizon.

Toyin considers this conceptual work the second step extending his Moving Space journey. Moving Space predefined the possibilities of our movements within penetrable and intangible space. In addition, the idea of space itself being immovable is explored.

On his own travels and experiences he has learnt that life is significantly more open and intimate than it has ever been before. This globalised world that we have discovered for ourselves has now enabled us to learn from, and respect each other more. He asks us that we consider the profound beauty in this, and also in one another.

Our new developments have caught us unawares, and we now have to learn to cope with this reality. He hopes that the next generation will be able to use the tools more effectively than we have done in this lifetime.

Within this new context of possibilities we are now entitled to search. Toyin shares this birthright with us, to explore and ride the meridian waves. He reveals that we are merely travellers, nomadically seeking our fields of green, and that now, life itself is that which we keep on searching, for the benefit of all humanity.

Visually, Toyin reveals the different cultural experiences from within his beautifully patchworked background. The very nature of his diaspora identity is embodied in his artwork. The images in this book are landscapes where people come and go, and where they merge their journeys in life together. The raw colours and patterns are roped to resonate global language, whilst still reflecting his unique identity. Toyin illustrates that the freedom to move from one point to another is ultimately a process beneficial to humankind, and that we should now realise the true nature of what we are unfolding into on this revolutionary and delicate chequered globe.

Michael Wainwright, Colombo, 2006