Nengi Omuku: The Dance of the People and the Natural World

7 Oct 2023-3 Mar 2024

Repose, 2022, Oil on sanyan

Overview

The Dance of the People and the Natural World is the first solo institutional exhibition of Lagos-based artist Nengi Omuku, in which new and recent works explore her profound relationship with the natural world.

Displaying more than ten pieces​, the show spans five of Hastings Contemporary’s eight galleries, and includes works made between 2021 and 2023 that probe Omuku’s love of nature and the ways in which it provides her with a sense of safety and serenity. From 2021’s Lighthouse through to her latest, Days gone by (2023), the series focuses on a sense of re-immersion in nature. As Omuku explains: 

“This comes from both a personal place, telling my story as a gardener and florist, as well as what I feel is a collective leaning, and re-communion with nature today.”

Nengi Omuku (b. 1987, Nigeria) lives and works in Lagos, Nigeria. She received her BA (2010) and MA (2012) from the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London. Omuku is the founder of The Art of Healing, an organisation that aims to transform inpatient mental health units in Lagos with contemporary art. Solo exhibitions include Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London (2022); Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London and Berlin (2020, 2021); September Gray, Atlanta (2017); and Omenka Gallery, Lagos (2015). 

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