From September 4 through October 24, 2024, Kasmin Gallery will host Nengi Omuku's first solo exhibition in New York at the gallery's 509 West 27th Street location in New York City. Titled "Wild Things and Perennials," the exhibition showcases a new body of eight captivating oil paintings on the traditional Nigerian textile sanyan.
At the heart of Omuku's practice is a fascination with the interplay between interior and exterior, figure and ground. Her impressionistic canvases and richly hued palettes create enveloping spaces that serve as backdrops for her loosely rendered individual and group portraits. Through this blending of elements, Omuku delves into themes of refuge and stillness, weaving in personal narratives drawn from her recent experiences in Lagos, London, New York, and during her residency at Civitella Ranieri in Italy.
Across the exhibition, Omuku's perennials emerge as fixtures that endure through celebration and crisis alike. These include the artist's depictions of plants, flowers, and spectacular skies, as well as the enduring presence of her community.
This exhibition will open concurrent with the artist's ongoing solo museum presentation, "The Dance of the People and the Natural World," at Arnolfini in Bristol, United Kingdom.
Nengi Omuku's distinctive visual language and her ability to weave together themes of identity, resilience, and the human experience have earned her growing recognition on the international art scene.
Gallery: Kasmin Gallery
Opening: September 4 – October 24, 2024
Location: 509 West 27th Street, New York
ABOUT NENGI OMUKU
Nengi Omuku lives and works between Lagos, Nigeria and London, United Kingdom. In 2023–24, Omuku's first institutional solo exhibition in the United Kingdom, The Dance of the People and the Natural World, was staged at Hastings Contemporary. In 2023–24 she was included in Aso oke: Prestige Cloth from Nigeria at the Saint Louis Art Museum in Missouri, and in 2023 she was included in Rites of Passage, curated by Péjú Oshin at Gagosian, Britannia Street, London. In 2022, Omuku was included in Dissolving Realms, curated by Katy Hessel, marking her first presentation with Kasmin. Her work was presented as part of the Bangkok Art Biennale in 2022–23. In 2023, she was awarded the Civitella Ranieri Residency in Italy (2024) to follow a 2022–23 residency at Black Rock Senegal.
Omuku has earned numerous scholarships and awards, including the British Council CHOGM art award presented by HM Queen Elizabeth II. Commissions include a 2018 mural in an intensive care psychiatric ward at the Maudsley Hospital, London, from the Arts Council England. In 2021, she received a World Trade Organization Residency organized by African Art Foundation in Geneva. Omuku's work can be found in international public and private collections including the Baltimore Museum of Art, MD; Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL; HSBC Art Collection, London, UK; The Whitworth, Manchester, UK; and the Loewe Art Collection, among others.
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