Gerald Chukwuma : Homeostasis

2 - 30 September

Gerald Chukwuma
Homeostasis
Gerald Chukwuma

Gerald Chukwuma (b. 1973) lives and works in Lagos, Nigeria. He graduated in 2003 with First Class Honours from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Chukwuma is one of Nigeria's fastest rising contemporary artists, noted for his intricately crafted sculptures on wood panels. The materials he chooses are common enough; however, in his unique way, using a range of techniques — including burning, chiselling and painting — he captures a richly layered history that is imbedded with personal and political meaning. The use of traditional Uli and Nsibidi symbols links his work to the Nsukka art tradition, which is credited with expanding and modernising the Igbo cultural aesthetic. Meanwhile, the transformation of found objects into highly detailed artworks roots him firmly in the contemporary moment with its concern for rapid environmental and ecological change.
- Solo Exhibitions include (Upcoming) A Place Where Everything Becomes a Possibility, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Palm Beach, Florida, USA (2024); Homeostasis, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London, UK (2023); Eclipse of the Scrolls, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery (London Bridge), London (2021); IKWOKIRIKWO: THE DANCE OF SPIRITS, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Berlin (2020); Wrinkles, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London (2019); Standing Ovation, Gallery 1957, Accra (2017); People’s Paradise, Temple Muse, Lagos (2016); Soaking Up Beauty, Constant Capital, Lagos (2014) and Highlife II, Ethnocentrique, Lagos (2013).
  
  Group exhibitions include 1-54 NYC, with Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, New York City, USA (2023); Winter Group Exhibition, Urevbu Contemporary, Memphis, Tennesee, USA (2023); Forward to the Past: Rengaging Uli in New Experiments, Brunei Gallery, SOAS, London, UK (2022); Uprising, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Schloss Goerne (2022); Untitled Miami, Miami (2021); Travels with Herodotus - A Journey through African Cultures, Galleria Bianconi, Milano (2021); ENTER FAIR ART with Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Copenhagen; Untitled art San Francisco with Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, San Francisco (2020); 1-54 London with Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery (2019); Kubatana, curated by Kristin Hjellegjerde, Vesfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Norway (2019); A Journey into Contemporary African Art, Belvedere Art Space, Beirut, Lebanon (2010); Art X Lagos, Civic Center Lagos (2018); The Art Story, Cartool Art Gallery, UAE (2018); Essentials, Alexis Galleries, Lagos (2015); The Contemporaries, The Wheatbeaker, Lagos (2015); Today In History, Thought Pyramid Art Centre, Abuja (2015); Music Lesson, Alexis Gallery, Lagos (2012); Highlife I, Exhibition of Designs and Art, Ethnocentrique, Lagos (2011); Heden Daagse Afrikaanse Kunst, Amsterdam (2010); Pachakucha: Inspire Japan, Terra Kulture, Lagos (2009); Reclaiming Africa, Goethe-Institute, Lagos (2009); In Pursuit of Knowledge, Civic Centre, Lagos (2009); Africa Now, The World Bank, Washington, D.C (2009); Moderne Afrikansu Kunst,Danish Center for Culture and Development, Copenhagen (2009); Mouling Matter, Pan African University, Lagos (2008); and The Unbreakable Nigerian Spirit, Galarie 23, Amsterdam (2008).
- Highlights and collections. Gerald Chukwuma's works can be found in prominent collections such as of the Bunker Artspace Museum, USA; The Hague, Netherland; Easton Capital/ John Friedman Collection; Pan African University Lagos; Seth Dei Foundation, Accra; University of Nigeria Nsukka; The World Bank Collection, Washington D.C; Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art (YSMA) Nigeria; Hearst Corporation and Museum Azman, Kuala Lumpur; Almas Art Foundation UK, The Africa Centre Collection, London, UK .
Homeostasis

Elongated figures, animals, swirling symbols and geometric patterns combine to create a vivid series of textured maps that are chiselled, burnt and painted on to panels of wood. Nigerian artist Gerald Chukwuma’s latest body of work was born out of a process of personal transformation and deep research into art therapy. As such, Homeostasis, his latest solo exhibition at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery’s London Bridge space, marks an important turning point in his practice, not just stylistically but philosophically. Defined by a pared-back, largely monochromatic palette and flowing, interconnected motifs, these new works are the result of the artist’s attempts to find an inner sense of peace and to explore art’s ability to heal.

Following a period of personal struggle, Chukwuma was introduced to the idea of homeostasis – which, in biology, is de- fined as a self-regulating process by which a living organism can maintain internal stability while adjusting to changing external conditions – as a state of mind. He became interested in how this kind of equilibrium could be cultivated not just in life, but also through the act of making and encountering art. These latest works are his first forays into these explorations. Though they still bear the markings of the artist’s singular visual language and rich use of symbolism, they are more abstract and fluid in style. Each work appears like a fragment of a larger vision, an evolving, collective dream.
- To Rule the Day... To Rule the Night takes us on a temporal journey from light to dark. Here, spectral figures dance be- neath a swirling cosmos that spirals out from white and black into deep shades of red, reminiscent of blood – the life force. Earth Bring Forth!, meanwhile, is populated with ancient-looking creatures and intricate patterns that burst into vivid hues of green, creating a dense, jungle-like landscape. In And the Light Appeared the horizontal format of the former two works is broken into a jagged shard, where streams of brilliant blue, deep black lines and the burnt silhouettes of people are sucked into a central point, a kind of vortex. Though we might recognise imagery in each of the works, the focus is less on a specific narrative than a sensory experience – they are, in the artist’s words, intended as ‘starting points to conversations’, a prompt to consider how we perceive and move through the world.
- As he explains: ‘The world is a difficult place to live in at the moment. We are all experiencing struggle at different levels, from war to environmental concerns, wellbeing and economic hardship. I want to create work that alleviates those stress- es, that makes the world a more beautiful and peaceful place.’
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Gerald Chukwuma : Homeostasis

Gerald Chukwuma

Gerald Chukwuma

Homeostasis

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