At Frieze London this year, three large artworks by the artist Nengi Omuku were hung away from the walls so viewers could walk around them. With each work, one side offered a vibrant nature-filled painting. The other presented strips of sanyan, a thick traditional Nigerian fabric that Omuku uses to replace the usual canvas fabric painters often use as their base. \u201cThe fact I\u2019m painting on a vintage surface gives soul to my work,\u201d Omuku said over Zoom two days before the fair opens. For the 37-year-old, the fabric she works on has become as crucial as her paintings themselves. \u201cEven when it\u2019s not a vintage surface, it\u2019s a surface that has been made collaboratively with craftsmen from Nigeria.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The London- and Lagos-based painter was chosen to exhibit her work at Frieze London by renowned interdisciplinary artist Yinka Shonibare as part of Frieze\u2019s Artist-to-Artist initiative, whereby established figures choose a more emerging one to have a solo exhibition at the fair. But calling Omuku \u2018emerging\u2019 is something of an understatement in what has already been a thriving career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Omuku’s work is painted directly onto strips of sanyan, a thick traditional Nigerian fabric. Nengi Omuku, “Rabble Rousers,” (2024). Courtesy the artist and Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London, and Kasmin Gallery, New York City. \u00a9 Nengi Omuku 2024. Todd White Art Photography<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since completing her undergraduate and master\u2019s degrees in fine art from the prestigious Slade School of Fine Art in 2012, Omuku has shown in major cities across the globe, including London, Paris, Bangkok, and New York. Her work can also be found in private and public collections, including at the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (ICA Miami), and the Loewe Art Collection. She is also represented by three major galleries: Pippy Houldsworth Gallery and Kristin Hjellegjerde, both in London, and The Kasmin Gallery in New York. And most recently, British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, selected her piece \u201cAll Things Being Equal\u201d (2024) to be hung at 10 Downing Street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Omuku\u2019s choice to use sanyan initially came from a place of necessity but has now become an integral part of her practice. \u201cI worked on canvas for a little while, but eventually shifted to working on sanyan, which is a pre-colonial Yoruba textile,\u201d she told CNN in a video call, adding that she \u201cmade the switch\u201d after eight years of studying in the UK. \u201cI was trying to rediscover myself and my identity,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I moved back to Nigeria, I couldn\u2019t find high-quality canvas, and I was also really fascinated by how, as Nigerians, we identify ourselves through our clothes.\u201d However, she found sanyan more appealing than other more contemporary fabrics because of when it was made. \u201cI was introduced to it by a friend when I was in Lagos and had this deep connection with the textile on many levels,\u201d Omuku said. \u201cI\u2019d never seen a pre-colonial Nigerian textile before, and it looked quite similar to linen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This journey has also allowed Omuku to consider how her artmaking could merge with her Nigerian culture by learning \u201chow to prepare the surface for painting while still honouring the textile.\u201d This journey began by working on vintage textiles found in local markets before eventually moving on to finding people who make sanyan. \u201cI still paint on vintage textiles, but through going to different places, like Dakar, in Senegal, I\u2019ve learned how to spin cotton,\u201d she said. \u201cNow we work with a family of cotton spinners to make sanyan specifically for paintings.\u201d She noted there\u2019s also an element of historical preservation here as cotton spinners are dying out due to fast fashion. \u201cPeople had even told me it was extinct,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aesthetically, Omuku\u2019s paintings often place abstract human figures in dream-like natural environments as a way to consider the collective experiences of Nigerians. In her largest painting at Frieze, titled \u201cSwing Low\u201d (2024), the figures appear to be strolling through a beautiful landscape. \u201cBut in the background, I put in images that I\u2019d seen in press clippings of people fleeing a political rally and tumbling over each other,\u201d she said. \u201cThose people tumble continuously and become an abstract mark that continues into the sky.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Omuku works with a family of cotton spinners who produce her sanyan directly. For her, it is a way of preserving a dying Nigerian craft. Nengi Omuku, “Nzogbu Nzogbu,” (2024). Courtesy the artist and Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London, and Kasmin Gallery, New York City. \u00a9 Nengi Omuku 2024. Todd White Art Photography<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Omuku\u2019s initial intention for the fair was to paint \u201cuninterrupted landscapes,\u201d but it became increasingly more difficult for her to do this as images of \u201cchaos and fighting\u201d were \u201cflashing through my mind like nightmares.\u201d These motifs and explorations have become more prevalent since returning to Nigeria after studying at the Slade. Omuku said she initially focused on her own interiority but noticed \u201ca huge mental health crisis\u201d in the country. \u201cAnd that\u2019s when I started thinking a little more about the collective,\u201d she said. \u201cHow we were experiencing things as Nigerians, how we\u2019re going through trauma and corruption and political unrest, and all of these things that happen every day that we live in and with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With an emphasis on the natural world and the captivating fabrics her compositions are painted on, it would be surprising if looking at Omuku\u2019s work didn\u2019t conjure up warm feelings. However, what Omuku has shown and what has given her resounding favour globally is that these pieces go beyond what is seen on the surface. \u201cEven though the paintings look quite whimsical, they actually take quite a bit of planning,\u201d she said \u201cI\u2019m trying to remind people of this beautiful place that we call our world and that we don\u2019t have to make it ugly.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At Frieze London this year, three large artworks by the artist Nengi Omuku were hung away from the walls so viewers could walk around them. With each work, one side offered a vibrant nature-filled painting. The other presented strips of sanyan, a thick traditional Nigerian fabric that Omuku uses to replace the usual canvas fabric […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39804,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[223,28,2],"tags":[7,224,30],"class_list":{"0":"post-39803","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-art","8":"category-culture","9":"category-featured","10":"tag-apie-project","11":"tag-art","12":"tag-culture"},"yoast_head":"\n