Ilé Oriaku
“Toyin Ojih Odutola: Ilé Oriaku” is the artist’s seventh solo exhibition with Jack Shainman Gallery, showcasing approximately 31 multimedia drawings and works on paper. On view from May 6 to July 18, 2025, the exhibition builds upon her recent presentations at the Nigerian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale and Kunsthalle Basel, exploring memory, language, and ancestral connection.
This exhibition takes place at the Jack Shainman Gallery, 46 Lafayette Street
New York, NY 10013. Runs through July 18, 2025.
Exhibition Description
Organized by Jack Shainman Gallery, “Ilé Oriaku” centers on an imaginary Mbari house (a sacred Igbo ceremonial space) as a stage for narratives that process grief and cultural lineage in tribute to her late grandmother and uncle. Through charcoal, pastel, graphite, chalk, and colored pencil, the works blend intricate patterns, vibrant colors, and architectural fragments to evoke themes of language, spirituality, and ancestral memory. The exhibition presents figures in transition, gesturing, turning, veiling, suggesting a dialogue with the past, and includes moments like Nwanyeruwa (Aba Women’s Rebellion) and an immersive diptych that brings forth the artist’s familial voice.
Gallery
