Studio Visit With Nnenna Okore Art From Discarded and Found Things
NNENNA OKORE
" Much of my inspiration stems from my childhood years at Nsukka, a minor university town in southeastern Nigeria. As a child, I was fascinated past the social, natural, and homo-fabricated weather condition in bucolic dwellings around the University campus, where I resided. Embedded within the rural landscape were evocative imageries captured by its rocky slopes, humongous ancient trees, and architectural structures…
Of all the aspects of rural life that inspired me, the use of discarded objects and found materials in coping with poor economic weather, had the almost profound impact on me. It is reflected in the visual content and imagery of my works, which by virtue of these influences, celebrate the transformation of discarded materials into cultural objects, forms, and spaces; and bring a critical focus to affect the consumption and recycling cultures in parts of Nigeria. My materials include newspapers, wax, material, rope, clay and sticks and I utilize various repetitive and labor-intensive techniques, like weaving, twisting, sewing, dyeing, waxing and rolling, which were learned by watching villagers perform everyday tasks. These processes accentuate colors, textures and other visceral qualities of my sculptures.
Presently, I am invested in exploring forms that are inspired by intimate spaces, shelters and natural habitats. I am also interested in discovering new ways of reflecting tactile qualities and social values associated with the African fabrics, using multitudinous ceramic elements. Every bit I go along to investigate these materials and processes from my past and present surround, I promise my works resonate deeply with, and speak to the aesthetics of people from diverse cultural backgrounds and experiences."
Raised in Nsukka, Nigeria, Nnenna Okore has emerged as 1 of the foremost artists of her generation. Her largely abstract works are inspired past textures, colors and landscapes of her milieu. Finding reusable value in discarded materials, Okore enriches her work with layers of meaning through familiar processes. Both in her abode state Nigeria and the U.s., she relies on the apply of flotsam or discarded objects, which are transformed into intricate sculpture and installations through repetitive and labor-intensive techniques. Some of her processes include weaving, sewing, rolling, twisting and dyeing, which she learned by watching local Nigerians perform daily tasks. Most of Okore's works explore detailed surfaces and organic formations.
Nnenna Okore is an Assistant Professor and Chair of the Art Section at N Park Academy, Chicago, where she teaches Sculpture, Spatial Fine art, Advanced Studio, Two and Three Dimensional Blueprint, Drawing I, Non-western Fine art History and Video Art. She earned her B.A degree in Painting from the University of Nigeria (First Class Honors) in 1999, and an M.A and G.F.A. in Sculpture from the University of Iowa in 2004 and 2005. She has received several national and international awards and been shown in numerous prestigious galleries and museums within and outside the United States. She recently completed a 2010 summer residency in Apt, French republic, and was selected to participate in the prestigious 29th Sao Paulo Biennial held in Brazil.
Expanding her attain into the visual arts, she began developing her piece of work on a theoretical level through painting and has consequently exhibited in Nigeria, United kingdom and Belgium including two major solo exhibitions in Lagos, 2003 and London, 2007. She established the Christopher Okigbo Foundation in 2005, which is tasked with researching and preserving the legacy of Christopher Okigbo, poet (1932-1967).
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
| SOLO | ||
| Life After, Noyes Fine art Centre, Evanston, IL | 2010 | |
| Textile, Blanchere Foundation Fine art Center, Apt, French republic | 2010 | |
| Recovered Energies, Bekris Gallery, San Francisco, CA, U.s.a. | 2010 | |
| Absurd Beauty, Northeastern Illinois University Gallery, Chicago, IL, Us | 2010 | |
| Strings and Patterns, Viterbo University Gallery, La Crosse, WI | 2009 | |
| Anyanwu, Carl A. Fields Centre Gallery, Princeton University, NJ | 2009 | |
| Twisted Ambient, Chicago Cultural Eye, Chicago, IL | 2009 | |
| Of Earth....Barks and Topography, Goethe Institut, Lagos, Nigeria. | 2009 | |
| Twisted Ambience, Chicago Cultural Eye. | 2009 | |
| Ulukububa-Infinite Flow, Oct Gallery, London. | 2008 | |
| Moonlight Tales, Tall Grass Association, (Chicago) Park Forest | 2008 | |
| Affrika W, Oriel Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno, Wales | 2008 | |
| Reflection: A Nigerian Experience, Contemporary African Art Gallery, New York City. | 2007 | |
| Sub-consciousness, Adam Hall Gallery, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois | 2007 | |
| Betwixt and Between, Carlson Gallery, Northward Park Academy, Chicago | 2006 | |
| Trans-figuration, Robert F. DeCaprio Art Gallery, Moraine Valley Customs College, IL | 2006 | |
| Paper to Paper, Armature Fine art Gallery, University of Iowa | 2005 | |
| Accumulations, Arts Iowa Urban center, Iowa City, IA | 2004 | |
| Re-presented, Armature Gallery, University of Iowa | 2003 | |
| Beyond the Lines, Didi Museum, Lagos, Nigeria | 2002 | |
| Metaphors, Alternative Space, Lagos, Nigeria | 2001 |
GROUP
| Scratch, presented by Sakshi Gallery at Latit Kala Akademi, New Delhi Republic of india | 2010 | |
| (Re-) Cycles of Paradise, UN COP16, Cancun, Mexico | 2010 | |
| 29th Sao Paulo Biennial, Sao Paulo, Brazil | 2010 | |
| Cloth, Blanchere Foundation Art Centre, Apt France | 2010 | |
| (Re-) Cycles of Paradise, UNCOP15, Copenhagen, Denmark | 2009 | |
| Common Ground, Bekris Gallery, San Francisco, CA | 2009 | |
| In Progress, Group prove at Calson Belfry Gallery, N Park University, Chicago, IL | 2009 | |
| Trash Menagerie, Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA | 2009 | |
| Newspaper to Lurid, Howard County Centre for the Arts, Ellicott City, MD | 2009 | |
| Transvangarde, October Gallery, London. | 2009 | |
| Chance Encounters, Sakshi Gallery, Republic of india | 2009 | |
| Object of A Revolution, Galerie Dominique Fait, Paris. | 2009 | |
| Trace/Memory, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL | 2009 | |
| Afganza Africa, October Gallery, London | 2008 | |
| Channel4 Fine art Exhibition, Channel4/Art4 Gallery, London | 2008 | |
| Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary, Museum of Art and Design, New York City, | 2008/2009 | |
| Refabrication, Carlson Gallery, North Park University | 2008 | |
| Clay and Fibre, Adult female Fabricated Gallery, Chicago | 2008 | |
| Joburg Art Off-white, (sponsored by Oct Gallery) Sandton Convention Center, Johannesburg, SA | 2008 | |
| Trading Spaces, Binghamton University, NY, March fourteen-March 31 | 2008 | |
| African Gimmicky Art Exhibition, Dakar Biennale, Senegal | 2006 | |
| Twelfth SOFA International Exposition, Chicago | 2005 | |
| eighth International Open Exhibition, Adult female Made Gallery, Chicago, IL. Juror, Lynne Warren, Curator at MCA | 2005 | |
| Migrations, Legion Arts CSPS, Cedar Rapids, IA. Curator: Mel Andringa, Executive Manager, Legion Arts | 2003 | |
| Units, Legion Arts CSPS, Cedar Rapids, IA | 2003 | |
| New Works, Armature Gallery, University of Iowa. Curator: Thomas Aprile, Professor of Art, University of Iowa | 2002 | |
| New Energies, Nimbus Gallery and Mydrim Gallery, Lagos, Nigeria Curator: Prof. El Anatsui, University of Nigeria | 2001 |
GRANTS / AWARDS / RESIDENCIES
| Artist Residency, Jean Paul Blachere Foundation, Apt France | 2010 | |
| Creative person in residence, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem Massachusetts | 2010 | |
| N Park University Faculty Project Grant | 2008 | |
| Residency at Instituto Rural de Arte Hoz del Jucar, Spain | 2007 | |
| UNESCO-Aschberg Fellowship for Artists (Gruber Jez Foundation, Mexico) | 2007 | |
| Red Gate Residency, Beijing, China | 2006 | |
| North Park University Research Award | 2005 | |
| Graduate Assistantship, University of Iowa | 2005 | |
| Emma McAllister Novel Scholarship, University of Iowa | 2004 | |
| Teaching Assistantship, University of Iowa | 2002-2005 | |
| Valedictorian (Fine Arts), University of Nigeria | 1999 | |
| Showtime prize, UNIFEM Women's Fine art Contest, Lagos, Nigeria | 1994 | |
| First prize, UNICEF African Child'southward Solar day Art Competition, Mbabane, Swaziland | 1993 |
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
COLLECTIONS
Nigerian Art Market….says, Nnenna Okore, past McPhillip Nwachukwu, Vanguard 2010 Fabric Significant, past Jessica Hemmings, Wasafiri Magazine, Result 63 2010 Into the Art of Africa, by Elizabeth Upper, To a higher place Mag 2010 Contemporary African Art Since 1980, By Okwui Enwezor & Chika Okeke-Agulu 2009 New Order, by Chika Okeke-Agulu, Arise Magazine 2009 Nnenna Okere's fine art…recycled material installation, by Jessica Kronika, The Examiner 2009 Visual Arts: 5 artists 'newspaper' the arts middle, by Mike Giuliano, Howard County Times 2009 From Rags to Riches with Art, past Vanessa Offiong, Weekly Trust 2009 The goddess of small things…,past Victor Ehikhamenor, Next 2009 Contemporary Art Sale in Lagos, by Emmanuel Anyifite, Next 2009 Okore, Enwonwu, Onabrakpeya, Anatsui, Kentridge others in London's art sale, by Chuka Nnabuife and Emmanuel Agozino, Nigerian Compass 2009 Top African Artists in focus at first British sale of gimmicky African Art, by VANGUARD Newspaper 2009 Art of Africa, by Simon de Burton, Financial Times 2009 Groundbreaking African Artists In Spotlight At First British Auction Of Contemporary African Art At Bonhams, past Julian Roup, Bonham Headline 2009 Creative person to Watch: Nnenna Okore, by Katy Donoghue, Whitewall Magazine, Bound Consequence 2009 Studio Visit with Nnenna Okore: Fine art from Discarded and Found Things, Next 2009 Using Erstwhile Materials to Put a New Confront on the Museum, by Roberta Smith, New York Times 2008 Mind Openers-Women Artist in Africa, by Barbara Murray, Farafina Magazine, No viii, 2007 The Yam is King, by Obi Nwakama, Farafina Magazine, No. vii 2006 As Dak'art Beckons, past Ugochukwu Uwaerzuoke, This Day 2006 eighth International Open, Exhibition Declaration by Adult female Made Gallery 2005 Chasing the Paper Trails with Vision, by Vidya Murthy, Daily Iowan 2003 Plenty Art Shows, lean Patrons, past Chukka Nnabuife, The Guardian 2002 The Metaphors of Today, by Victor Ikwele, National Interest 2001 New Energies, rebellion against the old, by Ozolua Uhakheme, The Guardian 2001 The Real Values Beyond the Tags, by Okechukwu Uwaezuoke, The Comet 2001
Jean Paul Blachere Foundation, France Indianapolis Fine art Center, Indiana Imperial Family of Abu Dhabi Art Business firm Contemporary Limited, Nigeria Oct Gallery, London, Britain Aqueduct 4, London, Uk Renaissance Majuscule, Moscow, Russia Daraja Fine art Foundation, London, UK Farafina Magazine, Lagos, Nigeria 2004 Kenna and Associated Law Business firm, Lagos, Nigeria 2002-2005
Source: http://www.themojogallery.com/asitis/artist-nnenna-okore.php
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