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Artists Profile

Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy was born in Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria and moved to the UK in 1975. She took up painting as a profession in 1988 and is now based in Suffolk. Much of her work is in oils, etchings, monotypes and pastels. Her subjects range from portraiture, still life and landscape, to pictures which capture the traditions and cultures of the African continent.

Chinwe has exhibited widely and her work is represented in public and private collections in  America, Antigua, Argentina, Australia, France, Grenada, Holland, Ireland, Kenya, Malaysia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Swaziland, U.A.E. and United Kingdom.

She received worldwide recognition for painting the official portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for her Golden Jubilee  Other recent commissions include the President of Norwich City Football Club, Mr Geoffrey Watling; His Excellency Chief Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; His Excellency Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Secretary-General of The Commonwealth; President of the Senate, Grenada, Margaret Neckles; Lord Mayor of Norwich, Derek Wood, Diagio Africa MD & wife, Mr. & Mrs. David Hampshire, David 'Rocky' Rocastle, Kriss Akabusi, athlete and TV personality, for whom she also undertook a series of large paintings on the theme of the African Diaspora and was commissioned by Martin Keown to paint Arsenal’s Highbury Stadium. Her work is in the Queens collection. In 2006 her work was reporduced on the national postage stamps of 5 countries.

Chinwe has won many awards and has featured prominently in the international media, both for her art and also for her charitable and educational work with young people. These considerable achievements have led her to be widely regarded as a positive role-model for many people worldwide. A recent biography published by Tamarind, is now studied by children in the UK as part of the National Curriculum. In 2003, representing Britain, Chinwe addressed the European Council Committee in Paris on Contemporary African Art and Artists, and later that year was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of East Anglia.

The 'Celebrate' Exhibition was specially organised in December 2003 for the Queen's visit for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Abuja for which she painted a portrait of Chief Obasanjo, President of Nigeria. As well as over sixty pieces of her own work Chinwe displayed the work of six other Nigerian artists, and started a major educational programme to encourage art in Nigerian schools. A commemorative book was produced for this exhibition. Chinwe's exhibition at The Gallery in Cork Street in 2004 was a major success attracting large numbers of visitors and much acclaim.

A wide range employing new techniques culminated in a major solo exhibition occupying the whole of The Mall Galleries, Pall Mall, London in September 2005 hailed by Robert Dustin as "one of the outstanding exhibitions of the year". 2006 saw 4 solo exhibitions of her work with a permanent display of pictures at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies in Russell Square, London and an exhibition at UNESCO in Paris as well as her continued work with the thriving 'Celebrate' Art Education project for children in Nigeria. Images of her work appeared on the national postage stamps of 7 countries.   In 2007 Chinwe embarked upon her bronze sculptures of H.E. Dr. Christopher Kolade and Mrs. Beatrice Kolade, returned for a second highly successful exhibition in Cork Street and carried out workshops & talks during her Residency and exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art (U.E.A.). In 2008 she has addressed the Cambridge Union and exhibited at the Contemporary Urban Centre, Liverpool.