YVONNE OSEI

Yvonne Osei is a Ghanaian multidisciplinary artist based in St. Louis whose practice interrogates beauty, race, clothing politics, the stewardship of history, and colonial legacies in West Africa and the West. Osei holds an MFA from Washington University in St. Louis, an MS in Fashion Design and Business from Lindenwood University, and a BFA from Webster University.

She has received numerous awards, including the 2022 Great Rivers Biennial Arts Award from the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, the 2023 Award for Distinction from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University, and a 2024 Artist Grant from the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis supporting her 2025 solo exhibition The Mess Is Us.

She has attended residencies at Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, Fountainhead in Miami, and Denniston Hill in Sullivan County, NY, among others. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the Everson Museum of Art, The Africa Center, Saint Louis Art Museum, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, and the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Osei is represented by Bruno David Gallery and serves as Vice President of the Surface Design Association.