Born in Lagos, Nigeria, and based in Dallas, Texas, Abi Salami is a self-taught artist who explores the uncanny in the everyday. Salami’s work celebrates Black/African womanhood’s beauty and essence, whilst highlighting the importance of positive mental health. She allows her subconscious and life experiences to inform her paintings, and feels compelled to create and capture moments in time and life to express her thoughts and feelings. Salami's work uses a personal lexicon made up of special symbols to explore memory, mental health, and race. Destigmatising mental illness in African communities is a huge passion for Salami.
Salami earned an MPA in Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin and worked in corporate America for almost a decade before committing to painting full-time.
Since then, Salami has gone on to exhibiting in Dallas and across the United States including at The Women’s Museum, the African American Museum of Art in Dallas, and Viridian Artists Inc in New York City.
She was the winner of the 2021 Hopper Prize. She was selected as a candidate of the Saatchi Art 2020 Rising Stars under 35 Class and a 2021 New Voices Top 100 Artists. Her work has been featured on the Washington Post, NBC5 News, FOX16 Morning News, Artsy, D Magazine and Voyage Magazine.
