Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy

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Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy

Born(1952-05-02)2 May 1952
Died17 December 2012(2012-12-17) (aged 60)
Known forPainting

Chinwe Ifeoma Chukwuogo-Roy

Queen Elizabeth II.[5][6]

1994 Self-portrait

Chukwuogo-Roy was appointed

Early life and education

Chinwe Chukwuogo was born in

Biafran War after which she moved to the family home in Awka Anambra State and in 1975 she moved to Britain.[9] She studied at East Ham College and subsequently obtained a B.A. Hons. Degree in Graphic Design from Hornsey College of Art (now part of Middlesex University) in 1978.[9]

Career

Golden Jubilee Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, 2002
Water Moon Monotype by Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy, 2005

Chukwuogo-Roy took up painting professionally in 1988.[9] Her portrait of the 1990–2000 Commonwealth Secretary-General Emeka Anyaoku was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II in 1999.

She gained international fame for painting the official

The Commonwealth Secretariat in London. The full-length portrait was unveiled at a ceremony at Marlborough House in London by former Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon on Commonwealth Day, 2002.[10] It hangs alongside the portrait of Commonwealth Secretary-General Emeka Anyaoku
there.

Other high-profile commissions include portraits of Kriss Akabusi and the Lord Mayor of Norwich.[11] Chukwuogo-Roy was commissioned by Martin Keown to paint Arsenal's Highbury Stadium in London.[3]

In 2003, Chukwuogo-Roy represented the United Kingdom at the European Council Committee in Paris, advising on Contemporary African Art and Artists. In December that year, she also instigated and organised the "Celebrate" Exhibition for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Abuja.[12]

Chukwuogo-Roy exhibited throughout Britain,

Connecticut University, Storrs, Connecticut; Didi Museum, Lagos; and UNESCO
, Paris.

There has been a permanent exhibition of her work in the Menzies & Hancock Rooms at the University of London's School of Advanced Study since May 2006.

She was a founder member of the renowned Sudbourne Printmakers, involving several leading Suffolk artists.[14][15]

In December 2012, after a lengthy illness with cancer, she died at her home in Hacheston, near Framlingham, Suffolk.[9]

Style and concepts

Chukwuogo-Roy created paintings, prints, and sculptures that are predominantly

naturalistic portraiture is usually optimistic or celebratory in tone. However, she also created many works that, according to Sandra Gibson, writing for Nerve, elicit "complex feelings of desperation, dread and aspiration".[16] Notable among such works are her Migrants series and her African Slave Trade series.[17]

Recognition and awards

Chukwuogo-Roy won many awards and was featured prominently in the international media, both for her art and also for her charitable and educational work with young people. A biography entitled Chinwe Roy – Artist, published by Tamarind Books, is now studied by children in the UK as part of the National Curriculum.[18]

In 2003, Chukwuogo-Roy was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of East Anglia.[19] In 2008, she was invited to address the Cambridge Union.[20]

In 2010 Chukwuogo-Roy was made a Member of the Most Excellent

MBE
) for her contributions to art.

Collections

Examples of Chukwuogo-Roy's work are held in many public and private art collections, including that of Queen Elizabeth II, that of former

the Netherlands, Nigeria, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Swaziland, the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States
.

Personal life

She married Roderick Roy in 1980. They had two sons, Rogan and Alasdair, and a daughter, Nwiru. They also have a grandson. Chukwuogo-Roy was an ardent Arsenal F.C. fan.[3]

Chukwuogo-Roy was afflicted throughout her life by myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune disease that weakens the muscles, but still managed to travel extensively.[3]

References

  1. Bonham's
    , 16 March 2011.
  2. ^ "Chinwe CHUKWUOGO-ROY M.B.E.: Death" Archived 7 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine, East Anglian Daily Times, 22 December 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Verna Wilkins, "Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy obituary", The Guardian (London), Other Lives, 30 January 2013.
  4. OCLC 965603634.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  5. ^ "Painter and illustrator Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy passes away" Archived 1 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Nigerian Watch, 28 December 2012.
  6. ^ a b "Sculpting and painting for the Crown" Archived 16 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Nigeria First, 18 December 2003.
  7. ^ "No. 59090". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 June 2009. p. 22.
  8. ^ Wilkins, Verna (30 January 2013). "Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy obituary". the Guardian. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  9. ^ a b c d Craig Robinson, "Hacheston: Tributes to acclaimed artist Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy after three year battle against cancer" Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, East Anglian Daily Times, 22 December 2012.
  10. ^ "Portrait shows Queen as head of nations", The Daily Telegraph, 11 March 2002.
  11. ^ Sowole, Tajudeen (8–14 January 2006). "Chinwe… Brushing Kings and Lords". African Arts with Taj.
  12. ^ "Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy" Archived 7 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, AfricaResource.com, 27 June 2006.
  13. ^ "NEWS ARCHIVES: 2006". Institute of Commonweath Studies. Archived from the original on 25 February 2008.
  14. ^ "EADT", 17 April 2009.
  15. ^ Sudbourne Park Printmakers.
  16. ^ Sandra Gibson, "Contemporary Arts Centre, Greenland Street, 7th March – 5th May 2008" Archived 11 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine (review), Nerve.
  17. ^ "Chinwe Roy, Queen's Portraitist Passes On", The Guardian (Nigeria), 29 December 2012.
  18. .
  19. ^ Honorary Graduates of the University, University of East Anglia. Archived 25 January 2013 at archive.today
  20. ^ "cus.org". Cambridge Union.[permanent dead link]

External links