Barry Yusufu (b.1996) is a Nigerian artist specialising in figurative portraiture. His work explores themes of love, hope, brotherhood, and culture while honouring the identity and innate beauty of his subjects. A self-taught painter, Barry began his professional career in 2017, experimenting with a variety of media from acrylics and oils to papier maché and coffee. This exploration birthed many distinct styles, most notably his widely celebrated “Bronze Skin” technique. His practice has evolved from questioning why figures like his own were absent in art history to presenting their stories with candour and dignity.

Barry has exhibited internationally in group shows including Zut! Paris, Bode Berlin, Eduardo Secci Gallery and Breeder Gallery, and has held solo exhibitions at Luce Gallery in Italy, and Saatchi Gallery in London.

Currently expanding his research-led practice at Central Saint Martins, Barry reimagines African bodies as ancestral, cloud-like beings in his ongoing project From Cottons to Clouds. Layering paint as though carving altars, his work resists erasure and affirms Black identity as sacred, infinite, and enduring.