Nengi Omuku, Mar Loj, 2023, oil on sanyan, 216 x 125 cm, 85 x 49 ¼ in.
Nengi Omuku's 'Mar Loj' is currently on view at the Saint Louis Art Museum, Missouri, as part of the group exhibition 'Aso Oke: Prestige Cloth from Nigeria'. Curated by Nichole N. Bridges, the Morton D. May Curator of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, with Shaka K. Myrick, 2021–2023 Romare Bearden Graduate Fellow, the exhibition runs from 29 September 2023 – 10 March 2024.
‘Aso Oke: Prestige Cloth from Nigeria’ explores textiles created by Yoruba weavers in southwestern Nigeria that were fashioned into clothing for celebratory and ceremonial occasions from the early 19th to late 20th century.
Three elemental types of aso oke (ah-shō ōkay)—sanyan (undyed raw silk), alaari (magenta-dyed silk), and etu (indigo)—form the foundation upon which weavers have implemented boundless material and design innovations. Sanyan is the muse for Nigerian studio-based artist Nengi Omuku, whose work will be seen in the exhibition. Omuku applies her oil painting directly on this cloth collected from markets in Nigeria. A painting will introduce visitors to Omuku’s specific engagement with aso oke that asserts presence for both her painted compositions and the cloth itself.
‘Aso Oke: Prestige Cloth from Nigeria’ explores textiles created by Yoruba weavers in southwestern Nigeria that were fashioned into clothing for celebratory and ceremonial occasions from the early 19th to late 20th century.
Three elemental types of aso oke (ah-shō ōkay)—sanyan (undyed raw silk), alaari (magenta-dyed silk), and etu (indigo)—form the foundation upon which weavers have implemented boundless material and design innovations. Sanyan is the muse for Nigerian studio-based artist Nengi Omuku, whose work will be seen in the exhibition. Omuku applies her oil painting directly on this cloth collected from markets in Nigeria. A painting will introduce visitors to Omuku’s specific engagement with aso oke that asserts presence for both her painted compositions and the cloth itself.
3 October 2023
