ChibuIke UzoMa - to Kick a Stone

Chibụike Ụzọma is a Nigerian multidisciplinary artist who works with painting, photography, drawing, text, and video. He has a solo exhibition at Simon Lee Gallery in London, which is the fourth pillar of a collaborative project with Edward Owens and João Orecchia. Ụzọma's paintings explore non-linear narratives and use a mix of painting languages to explore the liminal spaces between representation and meaning. The exhibition includes sixteen large paintings made in 2022, accompanied by an introduction by Kat Sapera, essays by Bishupal Limbu and Carlos Valladares, and a conversation with Ekow Eshun.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 72 pages
Publication date: 16 March 2023
Publisher: Anomie Publishing

Chibụike Ụzọma, a Nigerian multidisciplinary artist born in 1992, currently resides and works in New Haven, Connecticut. His artistic practice encompasses a wide range of mediums, including painting, photography, drawing, text, and video. This publication presents a selection of sixteen large-scale oil and acrylic or acrylic spray paint on canvas paintings created by Ụzọma in 2022. Accompanying an exhibition of the same name at Simon Lee Gallery in London, the first solo exhibition of his work in the UK, this publication forms the fourth component of a collaborative project by the artist. It establishes a dialogue between Ụzọma's paintings and video and audio works by Edward Owens and João Orecchia, respectively.

Ụzọma's artistic approach revolves around non-linear narratives, employing a diverse range of painting languages that navigate the blurred boundaries between representation and meaning. Stencilled letters clash with textured paint pools, while diaphanous figures are framed by cinematic horizons. These paintings, characterized by vibrant, abstract portraiture set against stark black and white backgrounds, offer suggestive interpretations while remaining fundamentally formalist explorations of shape and composition.

Kat Sapera, the Director of Simon Lee Gallery, provides an introduction to the artist, sharing her initial encounters and highlighting the influence of philosophy and the act of looking on Ụzọma's work. Sapera emphasizes the collaborative aspects of the project, particularly with Orecchia and Owens, and delves into Ụzọma's creative processes.

In an essay titled "To Kick a Stone," Ụzọma delves lyrically into subjects such as poetry, religion, good and evil, aiming to bring key concepts that resonate throughout his artistic practice into the forefront. Essays by Bishupal Limbu, Associate Professor of English at Portland State University, and Carlos Valladares, writer and critic, contribute to constructing a comprehensive portrait of an artist whose enquiring mind and multidisciplinary approach have shaped his unique artistic vision.

Dimension: 235 x 175 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781910221464