Lives and works in London, England.
Dian Joy is a British-Nigerian interdisciplinary artist and educator working in London. Their work spans a variety of mediums, including video, installation, and extended reality. Dian's work often explores the messy encounters between biological and technological assemblages. While conceptually rooted in the practices of Cultural Analysis, they remain deeply grounded in the physicality to which the experience of otherness is bound. Never indebted to a darkening horizon, the artist faces the potential between personal experiences, political realities and community building as a way of offering alternative modes of inhabiting the social world. Having graduated with first-class honours in Cultural Analysis and Film from the University of Amsterdam, and in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins, their investigation into various strategies of emancipation and exaltation has led them to exhibit internationally, both as a solo artist and as a member of the transnational art collective, BLUE, which they co-founded during their time in Amsterdam (active from 2017 to 2020). Dian has been appointed an artist-in-residence at Mediale, and has showcased their work in venues such as Tate Britain Lates, the British Film Institute, Shijiazhuang Art Museum (CN), Galleri Q (DK), Juliette Jongma Gallery (NL), and HOTEL AMAZONAS (IT), among others. Currently, they hold a tutor position at Art Academy London and have shared their work at Bartlett School of Architecture.
Solo Presentations
Forthcoming
2024 | Alexandria’s Genesis | Arebyte | London, UK.
Group Presentations
Past
2023 | Two Front Encounter | All watched over by machines of tight embrace | Lewisham Arthouse | London, UK.
2022 | LAMP | Shijiazhuang Youth Biennale | Shijiazhuang; Zhengzhou; Suzhou, CN.
2022 | MothPit (Permutation II)| Shijiazhuang Youth Biennale | Shijiazhuang; Zhengzhou; Suzhou, CN.
2022 | my house is on fire | Cluster Contemporary | OXO Bargehouse | London, UK.
2022 | Are you dreaming of sleep, little machine? | Late At Tate Britain: Art Now, Shawanda Corbett | Tate Britain | London, UK.
2022 | MothPit (Permutation I) | Tour De Moon | Southampton; Newcastle; Leicester, UK.
2022 | LAMP | Boing | Central Saint Martins | London, UK.
2022 | Voyageur [w Sarah Lou Maarek] | Editions, Multiples, Identicals | Lethaby Gallery | London, UK.
2022 | A glance from the corner (I) | MERCH | Lethaby Gallery | London, UK.
2020 | No Gods in the Inbetween | LUDICITY | Galleri Q | Copenhagen, DK.
2019 | Topia | LEAVING LIVING DAKOTA x BLUE | Decoratelier | Brussels, BE.
2019 | Catastrophe | Spatial Construction & Performance | Newington Gallery | London, UK.
2018 | Mediations on Pain | Spring Performance Festival | Juliette Jongma Gallery | Amsterdam, NL.
Screenings
Forthcoming
2024| LAMP | MOMO Festival | Rotterdam, NL.
Past
2023 | LAMP | SWIFF | Light Film Fest | Digital; USA.
2023 | LAMP | Waiting Room | Yard Theatre | London, UK.
2023 | LAMP | London Short Film Festival | British Film Institute | London, UK.
2022 | LAMP | Lift Off First Time Filmmaker Sessions | Online.
2022 | LAMP | Black Cat Film Festival | London, UK.
2022 | LAMP | NEOS Fest | TBD | Puebla, MX.
2022 | LAMP | Spake 666 | Vogue Fabrics Dalston | London, UK.
2022 | LAMP | Spake Easy | Boogaloo | London, UK.
2022 | LAMP | Tour De Moon | Leicester; Newcastle; Southampton; London; Crawley; Plymouth; Barrow-in-Furness; Blackburn; Huddersfield; Grimsby; Wolverhampton; Bletchley, UK.
Performances / Dialogues / Interventions
Forthcoming
2024 | Mediale Immersive Assembly 4 Launch | Oxford University, UK.
Past
2023 | Mediale Immersive Assembly 3 Showcase | Immersive Arts Salon | Sage | Gateshead, UK .
2023 | Virtual as Vilnius: Imaginaries and Technologies Shaping the City | London Festival of Architecture | Bartlett School of Architecture | London, UK .
2022 | Pleasure Grounding For Topsy Turvy Times | 21 Days of Pleasure | The Skinship | Digital.
2021 | The Hoping Mechanism | Transference.tv | Digital.
2019 | Ritual of Kore | Fool Moon | HOTEL AMAZONAS | South Tyrol, IT.
2019 | Fanfare /b/channel w/ NXS [3/3]: Future Ruins | Fanfare | Amsterdam, NL.
2019 | Collectives and Chosen Family | The Word Radio | Brussels, BE.
2019 | BLA-BLA-BLASPHEMY Writers Retreat | BLUE | Galway, IR.
2019 | Digital -topias | LEAVING LIVING DAKOTA x BLUE | Decoratelier | Brussels, BE.
2017 | We Giants | Matrix Botanica | Gare du Noord | Amsterdam, NL.
Education
2020/22 Central Saint Martins Master of Fine Arts
2018/20 Art Academy of London
2015/18 University of Amsterdam Bachelor of Arts
Commissions / Residencies / Fellowships / Awards
Current
2023/24 | Hotel Generation [Winner] | Arebyte | London, UK.
Forthcoming
2025 | Artist in Residence | Earls Court Development Company | London, UK.
Past
2023 | Artist in Residence | Immersive Assembly Vol. 3 | Mediale | Digital.
2023 | LAMP | Best Documentary [Finalist] | SWIFF | Light Film Fest | Digital; USA.
2022 | ILN Mentorship Programme | ILN | Digital.
2022 | Graduate Award [Shortlisted] | Lewisham Arthouse | London, UK.
2022 | Moon Cinema Bursary | Tour De Moon | Unboxed | UK.
2021 | Being Olive Morris Augmented Reality Experience (pilot storyscaper)| Storytrails | Unboxed | London, UK.
2019 | 1st Place | Pound Art Competition | Bolt and Bee | UK.
Press/ Texts / Interviews
2023 | all watched over by machines of tight embrace | Design Exchange | Digital.
2023 | all watched over by machines of tight embrace | Art Rabbit | Digital.
2019 | Margareth | Lilian Polosek, Daniela Capaldo & Lucilla Patrizi | Film.
2018 | ‘Yorubaland vs Nigeria, and growing up in the UK’ | The Black Diaspora | Digital.