Lives and works in London, England.
Dian Joy is a British-Nigerian interdisciplinary artist and filmmaker based in London. Working across video, installation, and extended reality, Joy’s practice explores the entanglement of biological and technological systems through a speculative, research-driven approach. Their work engages critically with the ever evolving terrain of selfhood in the digital era, frequently investigating how the mythological, the machinic, and the embodied intersect within contemporary culture. Bridging theory and praxis, at the core of Joy’s inquiry is an exploration of desire as a subjectivity-shaping force in a world increasingly governed by algorithmiclly charged media. Through this lens, Joy examines the affective and material dimensions of otherness and power. Never indebted to a darkening horizon, their installations and moving image works cultivate spaces for collective reflection, asking how we indeed “make-sense” amid the ideological forces that shape contemporary life.
Dian holds an MA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins, where they were awarded a UAL Academic Scholarship. Their work has been recognised through numerous awards and commissions, including the 2024 Hotel Generation Prize from Arebyte Gallery, the Moon Cinema filmmakers bursary from Tour de Moon, and a prototype AR producer commission for the nationwide immersive programme StoryTrails. In 2025, Dian was selected for the CPH:DOX Delegation through the BFI Doc Society Fund and will undertake a residency with the Earls Court Development Company later in the year — their second, following a residency with York Mediale’s Immersive Assembly programme in 2023. Dian’s work has been presented at Tate Britain Lates, the British Film Institute, Shijiazhuang Art Museum (CN), Galleri Q (DK), Juliette Jongma Gallery (NL), HOTEL AMAZONAS (IT), among others.
Solo Presentations
Past
2024/5 | Alexandria’s Genesis | Arebyte | London, UK.
Group Presentations
Past
2024 | Topia | MOLT x TON 1 | ATELIER GARDENS | Berlin, DE.
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
Past
2024| LAMP | MOMO Festival | Rotterdam, NL.
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
Past
2024 | Alexandria’s Genesis by Dian Joy: Myths and Mimetics | Reforum | Arebyte | London, UK.
2024 | Mediale Immersive Assembly 4 Launch | Oxford University, UK.
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 / Grants
Forthcoming
2025 | Artist in Residence | Earls Court Development Company | London, UK.
Past
2025 | CPH:DOX Delegation | BFI Doc Society Fund | UK.
2024 | Hotel Generation [Winner] | Arebyte | London, UK.
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/Links
2024 | Alexandria’s Genesis by Dian Joy: Myths and Memetics | HOT LIST 07/01/2025 | LA FOMO | Digital.
2024 | In conversation with Dian Joy | FLO London | Digital.
2024 | Alexandria’s Genesis | New Exhibitions | Digital.
2024 | Dian Joy: Alexandria’s Genesis | Art Plugged | Digital.
2024 | Semana 442_1 Alexandria’s Genesis | [ANTI]MATERIA | Digital.
2024 | Alexandria’s Genesis by Dian Joy | Art Week | Digital.
2024 | What’s On: Alexandria’s Genesis | Royal Docks | Digital.
2024 | Alexandria’s Genesis by Dian Joy | HOT LIST 13/11/2024 | LA FOMO | Digital.
2024 | Dian Joy: ALEXANDRIA'S GENESIS | Kensington and Chelsea Review | Print.
2024 | Alexandria’s Genesis by Dian Joy | Arebyte | Digital.
2023 | all watched over by machines of tight embrace | Design Exchange | Digital.
2019 | Margareth | Lilian Polosek, Daniela Capaldo & Lucilla Patrizi | Film.
2018 | ‘Yorubaland vs Nigeria, and growing up in the UK’ | The Black Diaspora | Digital.