FULL SPECTRUM
Yinka Ilori uses radiant colour to spread joy
Replete with graphic shapes and a fruit-salad palette, Yinka Ilori’s west-London studio – which the multidisciplinary artist and designer masterminded and moved into this year – is an ode to optimism and his Nigerian heritage. His team are beavering away happily on one side; displayed on the other are examples of past projects, including the dazzling pavilion he created for Dulwich Picture Gallery in 2019, and last year’s Brit Awards set. Elsewhere, there are pieces from his own homeware – kaleidoscopic trays, cushions and pouffes – and his beloved, ever-expanding collection of chairs.
‘Chairs connect people – whether that’s because they are sitting down to eat, laugh, cry or tell stories,’ says Ilori. ‘Yet they are such everyday items.’ They also played a key role in launching his career. ‘After graduating in furniture design, I’d go around London, collecting old throw-outs and upholstering them using my mum’s Nigerian fabrics,’ he remembers. ‘The collection I presented in 2015 got people’s attention and essentially helped open my studio.’
Underpinning the playful patterns is a serious ambition to make objects and spaces that are accessible and uplifting – one dream project is to overhaul British hospitals. ‘We need an initiative to get an artist on board for each facility and transform it,’ he says, ‘so that the environment eases the uncertainty we feel, waiting in a ward.’
For now, though, Ilori is busy with his forthcoming solo show at the Design Museum. ‘It’s like a retrospective, but it’s not, because I’m young!’ he says. ‘It’ll be a walk through my journey so far, from the creative process to what has influenced me: music; the collective experience of the church; Nigerian folklore; seeking joy. I’m excited.’ charlotte brook
Yinka Ilori (yinkailori.com). ‘Yinka Ilori’ opens at the Design Museum (designmuseum.org) on 16 September.