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Nengi Omuku

@nengiomuku

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Founder @taohafrica
Current shows:
British Art Show 10 @mead_gallery
The Gathering @deyoungmuseum
There We Sat Down @scadmoa

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This week’s #Spotlight is London-born painter Okiki Akinfe, whose practice draws on a wide variety of references including Renaissance painting, contemporary pop culture and music.

Her first institutional solo exhibition, RM9 5AN, at PEER in East London explored the everyday landscape of Dagenham, bringing its familiar streets, shopfronts and overlooked details into painting. At this year’s Frieze Focus, Akinfe presented Fame Is a Gun with Ginny on Frederick, drawing inspiration from both Addison Rae’s song and Mantegna’s use of foreshortening.

Her Champion, Nigerian painter Nengi Omuku, praises Akinfe’s distinctive approach to place and belonging: “There is wit, intelligence and quiet resistance in her images, but also generosity. She invites us to look again at places and lives that are too often overlooked.”

This October, three of Akinfe’s works were acquired for Abbot Hall in Kendal through the inaugural Dasha Shenkman Focus Fund, facilitated by the Contemporary Art Society. She is also included in British Art Show 10, with further exhibitions to be announced as she returns to the studio to experiment with new ideas.

Read the full feature at the link in bio.

@okikiakinfe @nengiomuku

Spotlight is The Wick’s weekly feature in which art world experts and creative leaders champion artists who should be on your radar. Make a note to add Okiki Akinfe to your collecting wishlist.

#OkikiAkinfe #NengiOmuku #Frieze #TheWick by @nengiomuku

Honoring shared humanity through portraiture

Rather than creating portraits of her subjects with defined features that demarcate their physical identities, Nengi Omuku creates textural abstractions that embrace the relative parts of humanity that connect us all while celebrating the influential people in her life.

Experience the beauty of “There We Sat Down” on view through Jan. 11, 2027 at the SCAD Museum of Art.

Pictured: Kwadwo I, 2022, oil on sanyan, 42 7/8 x 29 1/2 in. Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami. Museum purchase with funds provided by John and Amy Giffin.

Viva, 2019, oil on sanyan, 36 x 24 in.Collection of Kristin Hjellegjerde by @nengiomuku

Last night was a dream. Thank you so much @ekoweshun and the entire team @hayward.gallery touring for including me in such a landmark exhibition.

@mead_gallery @the_herbert_cov 🫶🏾🫶🏾🫶🏾🫶🏾 by @nengiomuku

I’m very pleased to be part of the British Art Show 10: A Chorus of Strangers in Coventry opening on 1st October 2026 @mead_gallery

Curated by Ekow Eshun, the landmark tenth edition of British Art Show, which takes place every 5 years, brings together more than 30 artists and explores human connection and the figure of the Other in divided times. It asks what forms empathy and shared imagination might take, and how we might move beyond fixed ideas of “us” and “them.”

I’m incredibly happy to be part of this exhibition alongside:

Okiki Akinfe, Alex Margo Arden, Liz Johnson Artur, Alvaro Barrington, Shiraz Bayjoo, Lubna Chowdhary, Shawanda Corbett, Jesse Darling, Ufuoma Essi, Joy Gerrard, Louise Giovanelli, Mahtab Hussain and Guy Gunaratne, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami, Nnena Kalu, Jasleen Kaur, Christina Kimeze, Julian knxx, Matthew Krishanu, Alastair Mackinven, Melanie Manchot, Lindsey Mendick, Emma McNally, Dala Nasser, Jack O’Brien, Nengi Omuku, Precious Okoyomon, Lydia Ourahmane and Sophia Al-Maria, Hannah Quinlan and Rosie Hastings, Hannah Perry, Mohammed Sami, Rae-Yen Song 宋瑞渊, Emma Talbot, Nicole Wermers and Osman Yousefzada.

The exhibition opens across The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry University and the Mead Gallery, and runs in Coventry from 2 October 2026 – 10 January 2027, before travelling to Swansea, Bristol, Sheffield and Newcastle Gateshead.

It would be wonderful to see you there! 🤍

@ekoweshun @okikiakinfe @olddrag @lizjohnsonartur @alvarobarrington @shirazbayjoo @lubnachowdhary @cyborg_artist @jessedarling @ufuoma.essi @louise___giovanelli @mahtabhussain guygunaratne @mwana.wevhu @actionspace @jasleen.kaur @itskimeze @julianknxx @matthewkrishanu @melaniemanchot @lindseymendick @jackobrien @nengiomuku @devilintraining @emogirl4 @sxphix_xl_mxrix @hannah_quinlan @rosiebhastings @hannahperryhannahperry mohammedsamistudio @raeyensong @talbot.emma @nicwermers @osmanstudio by @nengiomuku

Now on view at #SCADMOA Nengi Omuku’s “There We Sat Down” 🖼️

Presenting 10 dynamic paintings, Nigerian artist Nengi Omuku shares her meditative color palettes, serene landscapes, and transcendent figures on the West African pre-colonial textile Sanyan. Through her work, Omuku honors her heritage while embracing the aspects of shared humanity.

Explore “There We Sat Down” through Jan. 11, 2027. by @nengiomuku

@nengiomuku gorgeousness at @deyoungmuseum #naija by @nengiomuku

@nengiomuku work is now installed at @bonhams1793 ahead of tomorrow’s @_hospitalrooms anniversary auction.

Nengi is among the artists contributing to this special auction. The auction supports @_hospitalrooms work bringing art into psychiatric wards, while the sale of Nengi’s painting will also support TAOH’s work.

The Art Of Healing (TAOH) was founded by Nengi Omuku in 2019 and joined by co-founder @ebisan.a in 2022. Together, they have built an organization that uses contemporary African art, architecture, and collaborative creative practice to transform psychiatric wards, creating spaces that support connection, expression, dignity, and wellbeing.

If you’re in London, you can visit @bonhams1793 to see the works ahead of the auction.

Join us tomorrow as we look forward to your support!

#TheArtOfHealing #TAOH #HospitalRooms #Bonhams #nengiomuku by @nengiomuku

Founder of The Art Of Healing (TAOH), @nengiomuku is participating in the Hospital Rooms Anniversary Auction, a special fundraising collaboration with @bonhams1793 supporting @_hospitalrooms continued work and mission to transform psychiatric wards through art.

The auction brings together works generously donated by leading contemporary artists, including a painting by @nengiomuku with proceeds supporting the work of both Hospital Rooms and TAOH. TAOH was founded by Nengi Omuku in 2019 and joined by co-founder @ebisan.a in 2022 to transform psychiatric environments through contemporary African art, architecture, and collaborative creative practice..

The auction is now live, and we’re proud to support this collaboration and the shared belief that art can create connection, shift perspectives, and contribute meaningfully to mental health and wellbeing.

The painting is also currently on view @victoriamirogallery by @nengiomuku

The Gathering is open and will be on for two years @deyoungmuseum

It has been an immense honour to work with the incredible Natasha Becker and her team on this show.

Link in bio for the full talk. by @nengiomuku

“There We Sat Down” by artist Nengi Omuku opens Aug. 24 at the SCAD Museum of Art!

Honoring both history and heritage through evocative painting on Sanyan, a pre-colonial hand-woven textile made of blended cotton and silk, Omuku depicts dreamlike figures that hover between specificity and universality, transcending the earthly limitations of the human form.

Aug. 24, 2026–Jan. 11, 2027 | SCAD Museum of Art

Nengi Omuku, “Shakara,” 2025, oil on Sanyan, 45 5/8 x 30 ¼ in. Harry G. David Collection. by @nengiomuku

Don’t miss @NengiOmuku’s first US institutional solo exhibition, ‘The Gathering,’ now on view at the @deYoungMuseum in San Francisco.

Across the exhibition, Omuku presents scenes that imagine a better world for young Nigerians, envisioning the ways “we can gather and remember our humanity and take care of each other in spite of the chaos that surrounds us.”

Based between Lagos and London, Omuku works in oil on handspun sanyan, a Yoruba ceremonial textile that deepens the historical and cultural resonance of her work. ‘The Gathering’ is curated by Natasha Becker and places Omuku’s work, including four new, monumental paintings, in dialogue with the de Young’s historical arts of Africa collection, revealing cultural and material continuities across generations. Photography by Gary Sexton. by @nengiomuku

Nengi Omuku could paint on canvas, but she prefers to paint on “sanyan,” a handwoven Yoruba textile once worn for ceremony. She takes it apart, reverses the stitches, primes the back, and paints dreamlike scenes on top: lush forests, tranquil gardens, a better world.

The result is a painting practice unlike anything else in contemporary art right now.

Watch the full film on our YouTube channel (link in bio), and don’t miss “Nengi Omuku: The Gathering,” on view now at the de Young. by @nengiomuku