Nengi Omuku
“Stages of Collapse”
September 29, 2017 – November 1, 2017
Artist Talk With Nengi Omuku and September Gray
The Nigerian artist first appeared on the American art scene in a group exhibition at the Armory Show NYC, 2016, Focus: African Perspectives — Global Contemporaries presented by Omenka Gallery, New York. Omuku returns to America, exhibiting her first solo show in Atlanta, home of the American Human Rights Movement.
On view from September 29th to November 5th, Stages of Collapse examines the relevance of environment. In this work, Omuku explores how the human experience is subject to “the gathering of information-mentally, physically and emotionally.” She portrays themes of rebirth through abstract representations of dreams that interpret the female body in regard to “gradual dematerialization,” in which she describes, “ the body is constantly selecting and adapting in order to belong.”
Biography
Nengi Omuku is a Nigerian artist who completed her BA and MA at the Slade School of fine art, University College London. She has had solo and group exhibitions in the UK and Nigeria, and now lives and works in Nigeria. Her artistic practice has won her scholarships and awards, including the British Council CHOGM art award, presented by HRH Queen Elisabeth II.
Her work functions as a metaphor alluding to wider themes of difference, understanding and a mutual belonging. Through colour, she explores the supposition that the human figure can be transformed based on the premise that things could not only look, but also be otherwise. The release from the physical form has led her into a new territory, a moment-by-moment expression of beings that have been transformed from their present reality, reanimated through colour and marks.
It is her desire to convey portraits: presences floating through active spaces, presences that have the aspiration of becoming events in their own right. She also frequently explores the encounter – what happens when different forms meet. Another element of her work is the scape, in particular, the escape the bodies inhabit.
September Gray Interview: Being A Gallerist
September Gray Gallery . 75 Bennett Street, Suite O-2 . Atlanta, Georgia 30309
