on the wall: Nnenna Okore

For her on the wall installation, When all is said and done, Okore explores and exploits the inherent physicality and fragility of burlap and wire as form. The exhibition is comprised of undulating and drooping elements that dress the breadth of the wall space, while tumbling down at various points from the ceiling to the floor. The wall behind is laced directly with black line drawings complimenting the root-like forms of swooping, entangled threads in hues of red and black.

 

Nnenna Okore (b. 1975 in Australia, raised in Nigeria) has received international acclaim for installations in which she reconfigures organic or discarded materials into abstract, richly textured forms of extraordinary range and nuance. She earned her BA in 1999 from the University of Nigeria where she studied with acclaimed sculptor El Anatsui. Okore went on to receive her MA and MFA at the University of Iowa, in 2004 and 2005 respectively. At present, the artist is a Professor of Art at Chicago’s North Park University, where she teaches sculpture. She was a 2012 recipient of the prestigious Fulbright Scholar Award, and has partaken in artist residencies for Jean Paul Blachere Foundation, Apt, France (2010), Art Omi International Residency, NY (2006), and SFAI Residency, Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM (2004). Her solo exhibitions include, Nkata, Krannert Museum of Art, University of Urbana-Champaign, IL (2015), On the Brink, Elmhurst Art Museum, NY (2015), and Akaraka: What will be, Art Twenty One, Lagos, Nigeria (2013). Okore has participated in group exhibitions at Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL (2015), Museu Afro Brasil, Sao Paulo, Brazil (2015), Spelman Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta, GA (2014), Museum of Contemporary African Diasporic Art (MoCADA), NY (2013), and at the 29th Sao Paulo Biennial, Sao Paulo, Brazil (2010).

 

Generously funded in part by a grant from the Wicker Park Bucktown SSA #33, the on the wall series is a rotation of projects on the gallery’s 10 x 25 foot wall. It is viewable from Division Street 7 days a week, 365 days a year, through floor to ceiling windows.