Pippy Houldsworth Gallery is delighted to announce representation of Nigerian artist Nengi Omuku. Her first solo exhibition, Parables for Joy, will be on view at the gallery from 10 June to 9 July 2022.
Using oil paint on sanyan – a traditional Nigerian fabric used for draped clothing – Omuku’s work interrogates ambiguity and liminality with a focus on interior psychological spaces and how these manifest within the physical world: multiple bodies depict a physical rendering of the multifaceted subconscious. Creating ethereal scenes of spectral figures in constant flux, their faces are deliberately blurred, becoming featureless silent observers whose gaze still seemingly penetrates out towards the viewer. Resisting singularity they instead embrace the collective experience, echoing the chorus in Greek theatre. In exploration of the complexities surrounding her cultural heritage, race and personal identity, Omuku often also draws on current and archival images taken from the Nigerian press and media.
Nengi Omuku (b. 1987, Nigeria) lives and works in Lagos, Nigeria. She received her BA (2010) and MA (2012) from the Slade School of Art, University College London. In addition to her forthcoming solo exhibition. Parables for Joy, at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, Omuku is currently included in What Lies Beneath: Women, Politics, Textiles, at New Hall Art Collection, Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge, and will participate in the Bangkok Art Biennale (2022-2023). Recent solo exhibitions include Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London and Berlin (2020-2021); Stages of Collapse, September Gray, Atlanta (2017); A State of Mind, Omenka Gallery, Lagos (2015). Recent group exhibitions include Self-Addressed, curated by Kehinde Wiley at Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles, USA (2021); The Invincible Hands, Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art, Lagos, Nigeria (2021); Karim Kal and Nengi Omuku, La Galerie, Contemporary Art Center, Noisy-le-Sec (2021); Dancing in Dark Times, Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London (2021). Omuku’s work is included in the HSBC Art Collection, Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection and the Loewe Art Collection.
Nengi Omuku is jointly represented by Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery.
Pippy Houldsworth Gallery now represents Nengi Omuku
23 March 2022
