Nnenna Okore

Nnenna Okore (born in Australia, 1975) is an artist who works both in Nigeria and the United States. Her largely abstract sculptures are inspired by textures, colors and forms within her immediate milieu.[1] Okore's work frequently uses flotsam or discarded objects to create intricate sculpture and installations through repetitive and labor-intensive techniques.[2] She learned some of her methods, including weaving, sewing, rolling, twisting and dyeing,[3] by watching local Nigerians perform daily tasks.[2][4] Most of Okore's work explores detailed surfaces and biomorphic formations, and her work has been shown in galleries and museums in and outside of the United States.[2][3][5][6] She has won several international awards, including a Fulbright Scholar Award in 2012.[7]

Nnenna Okore
Born
Nnenna Okore

1975 (1975)
Thursday Island, Australia
NationalityNigerian and Australian
EducationUniversity of Nigeria, Nsukka, University of Iowa
Known forsculpture, installation art
AwardsFulbright Scholarship

Okore is currently a professor of art at North Park University in Chicago, where she teaches sculpture.[8]The daughter of a professor and a librarian, she often examines her American identity versus her Nigerian identity and the contrasts between her homeland with that of the States.[2]

Background

Okore was born in Thursday Island, Australia to parents from Ututu, Abia State in Nigeria.[9][10] After moving from Australia to Nigeria at the age of four, Okore spent most of her childhood in the university town of Nsukka in southeastern Nigeria, where both parents worked as academics at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.[9] Okore's art was subsequently influenced by visual characteristics of Nsukka, such as dilapidated mud adobe houses with zinc roofing, piles of firewood accumulated against a broken structure, people in ragged clothing, and rugged terrain.

Living in the senior staff quarters located close to the campus borders, Okore was in constant contact with the off-campus community, being exposed to the local marketplaces and other daily interactions with the rural population. Today, her work employs a range of environmental materials like clay, rope, fabric, sticks, and paper, which she frequently came across while in Nsukka.

Education

Okore attended the University of Nigeria Primary School, the University of Nigeria Secondary School, and Waterford Kamhlaba United World College in Swaziland for high school. She was enthusiastic about art during primary school, especially knitting, sewing, and crocheting. During this time, Okore won multiple art awards, including the first prize in the African Child Art Competition, organized by UNESCO in 1993. In secondary school, she drew and painted frequent still-life drawings and water color paintings. Her family, especially her father, A. O. Okore, were supportive of her efforts to become an artist.

By the time she graduated from high school in Swaziland, Okore was proficient in printmaking, pottery, modeling, and acrylic painting. A few years later, she won the UNIFEM Women's Empowerment Art Competition, whose prize included trips to Dakar, Senegal; Abuja, Nigeria; and Beijing, China, to represent African youth in the Women's World Conferences.

In 1995, Okore enrolled into the Fine and Applied Arts undergraduate program at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Her first mediums were oil and acrylic paint. By her third year, Okore began experimenting with unusual materials on canvas, in an effort to distinguish her work from the more conventional painting of her peers. She employed leaves, jute, cloth, sticks, shredded photographs, broomsticks, recycled paper, and leather, among other materials. Subsequently, she started creating free-flowing surfaces that were characterized by their textural build-up of paint, soil, rope, fabric, and other found objects. By her final year, her works were largely focused on issues of consumption and inventive recycling as it related to the Nigerian experience. Okore was influenced by her teachers, including Chijioke Onuora, Chike Aniakor, and El Anatsui. Okore received a bachelor's degree in fine and applied arts from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1999, with first-class honors.

Two years later, Okore relocated to the United States for a masters of fine arts program at the University of Iowa, which she completed in 2005.[7]

Career

After graduating from the University of Iowa, Okore was recruited by North Park University to teach and oversee the sculpture unit of the art department in 2005. She is presently a professor of art and department head, instructing undergraduate students in three-dimensional design, sculptural practices, and drawing, among other subjects.[7]

Alongside her teaching career, Okore's work has been exhibited to global audiences in over 80 solo and group shows, across international venues in Asia, Europe, North America, and Africa. Her works have been reviewed positively in publications such as Sculpture Magazine, The New York Times, Financial Times, Art South Africa and Ceramics: Art and Perception. She carried out her first solo exhibition in 2001 titled ‘’Metaphors’’ in Alternative Space, Lagos, Nigeria. Her second solo exhibition was titled ‘’Beyond the lines’’ in Didi Museum, Lagos Nigeria in 2002. She carried out her first solo exhibition in USA in 2002 titled ‘’Re-presented’’ at the Armature Gallery, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA. She had carried out solo exhibition every year since then.[11]

In 2012, Okore received a Fulbright Scholar Award. With the accompanying grant, she traveled to Nigeria for a year-long teaching project at the University of Lagos, while producing a series of new creative explorations. She returned to the United States after completing her project in 2013.

Materials

Okore's early years in the United States presented her with environmental and cultural differences. While adopting new materials inspired by her surroundings, she incorporated similar objects as those she used in Nigeria, like sticks, leaves or jute materials.

Okore tends to feature the organic, fibrous, malleable, and ethereal qualities of materials. In her present works, the materials capture the visual characteristics of transient, root-like or dense forms. Paper, in particular offers a range of possibilities to Okore's process. She also incorporates the symbolic narrative nature of newspapers. Burlap is also featured in Okore's work, in which it is used for its transient and delicate features.

Work and concept

Themes of aging, death and decay are recurrent in Okore's work, highlighting the vulnerability and fragility of Earth.[10] She captures the diverse and tactile aspects of the physical world through weathered, dilapidated and lifeless forms. Through manually repetitive processes, Okore's works reveal the complex and distinct properties of fabric, trees, topography, and architecture. Her works are also inspired by traditional women's craft in Africa. Okore engages in a slow, arduous process of weaving, dyeing, winding, and teasing materials like burlap, wire, and paper, sometimes sourced from West Africa, to create dramatic textile installations.[12][8] Her sculptures often reflect on the wildlife and craft culture she encountered in Nigeria, where she grew up observing the natural world and watching people engaged in repetitive manual labor, like making brooms by hand.[12]

References
  1. "Intricate abstract sculptures by Nnenna Okore inspired by veins, roots, and flora". Creative Boom. 2017-11-22. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  2. Perry, Elle. "Nnenna Okore's "Sheer Audacity" at the Brooks". Memphis Flyer. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  3. Heckel, Jodi. "Contemporary artist Nnenna Okore to visit Krannert Art Museum". news.illinois.edu. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  4. Cotter, Holland (2012-11-08). "Nnenna Okore: 'Transfiguration'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  5. "The Buzz Around Contemporary African Art: 10 Trending Artists at 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair". Artsy. 2014-10-12. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  6. "Nnenna Okore - 45 Artworks, Bio & Shows on Artsy". www.artsy.net. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  7. "Nigerian artist Nnenna Okore to exhibit work in London". The Guardian of Nigeria. 2017-10-19. Retrieved 2018-04-22.
  8. "Nnenna Okore is on a picturesque exploration of the cycle of life". Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  9. "Nnenna Okore interview: Political by Nature (2013)". www.artdesigncafe.com. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  10. studio. "Nnenna Okore: 'My work seeks to highlight Earth's vulnerability and fragility'". Studio International - Visual Arts, Design and Architecture. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  11. https://www.sakhileandme.com/artists/nnenna-okore.htm
  12. Thackara, Tess (2018-07-30). "These 20 Female Artists Are Pushing Sculpture Forward". Artsy. Retrieved 2020-08-11.

Sources
  • Artist Profile from Nnenna Okore's website
  • Robert Preece, "Political By Nature": 2500-word interview with Nnenna Okore, Sculpture Magazine, July/August, 2013.
  • Faustina Anyanwu, "Finding inspiration in the most simple things…", C.Hub Magazine, Issue 2, Vol. 1, 2012/13.
  • Chris Spring, African Textiles Today, Smithsonian Book/British Museum Press, 2012.
  • Nnenna Okore: ‘Transfiguration’, by Holland Cutter, New York Times, November 9, 2012.
  • Jackie Wullschlarger, "We Face Forward...", Financial Times, August 12, 2012.
  • Tajudeen Sowole, "Step Aside, Ferguson, African Art takes over Manchester", The Nigerian Guardian, June 15, 2012.
  • Kate McCrickard, "Waste Management/Things Torn Apart", Art South Africa, Volume 9.4, June 2011.
  • "With Metamorphoses, Okore returns to the UK", The Nigerian Guardian, April 19, 2011.
  • A. M. Weaver, "Fragility, Elegance and Decay", Ceramics: Art and Perception, Issue 83, March 2011.
  • McPhillip Nwachukwu, "Nigerian Art Market....,says Nnenna Okore", Vanguard, November 25, 2010.
  • Jessica Hemmings, "Material Meaning", Wasafiri, Issue 63, 2010.
  • Elizabeth Upper, "Into the Art of Africa", Above Magazine, Winter 2009/2010.
  • Okwui Enwezor and Chika Okeke-Agulu, Contemporary African Art Since 1980, 2009.
  • Chika Okeke-Agulu, "New Order", Arise Magazine, Issue 6, October 2009.
  • Jessica Kronika, "Nnenna Okore’s art .... recycled material installation", The Examiner, August 11, 2009.
  • Mike Giuliano, "Visual Arts: Five artists 'paper' the arts center", Howard County Times, July 30, 2009.
  • Albert Stabler, "Tom Torluemke and others at the Cultural Center", Proximity Magazine, July 26, 2009.
  • Uzor Maxim Uzoatu, "Wakeful Souls", Next Newspaper, July 10, 2009.
  • Vanessa Offiong, "From Rags to Riches with Art", Weekly Trust, June 2009.
  • Victor Ehikhamenor, "The goddess of small things ...", Next Newspaper, June 19, 2009.
  • Okechukwu Uwaezuoke, "Imitations of Nature", This Day, June 20, 2009.
  • Chuka Nnabuife, "'Of Earth...' Nnenna Okore stages home show", Nigerian Compass, June 16, 2009.
  • Jessica Hemmings, "Nnenna Okore: Ulukububa at October Gallery, London", Surface Design Journal, July edition, 2009.
  • Emmanuel Anyifite, "Contemporary Art Auction in Lagos", Next Newspaper, April 9, 2009.
  • Julian Roup, "Groundbreaking African Artists In Spotlight At First British Auction Of Contemporary African Art At Bonhams", Bonhams Headlines, March 2009.
  • Simon de Burton, "Art of Africa", The Financial Times, March 28, 2009.
  • Katy Donoghue, "Artist to Watch: Nnenna Okore", Whitewall Magazine, Spring Issue, 2009.
  • Molara Wood, "Studio Visit with Nnenna Okore: Art from Discarded and Found Things", Next Newspaper, February 8, 2009.
  • Bunmi Akpata-Ohohe, "Ulukububa: Infinite Flow", Africa Today, December 3, 2008.
  • Polly Savage, "Introduction: Ulukububa-Infinite Flow", Exhibition Catalogue, London, October 16-December 6, 2008.
  • Roberta Smith, "Using Old Materials to Put a New Face on the Museum", New York Times, September 26, 2008.
  • Barbara Murray, "Mind Openers-Women Artist in Africa", Farafina Magazine, No. 8, January, 2007.
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