Tiwani Contemporary presents I Always Face You Even When It Seems Otherwise, the work of Njideka Akunyili and Simone Leigh from 11 October – 14 December 2013.

Akunyili's paintings autobiographically address syncretic cultures of contemporary life in Nigeria and an appreciation for the West. Disparate elements clash together to give rise to complex compositions made up of acrylic, charcoal, pastel, and color pencil of home environments.

In contrast, Leigh's practice is an object-­‐based exploration of black female subjectivity informed by her interest in African art, ethnographic research, feminism and performance. Presented are carefully crafted ceramic objects, which can be described as a 're-­‐purposing' of found objects. Her large cowrie shell-­‐like sculptures, construct new meanings that sit outside their past modes of monetary exchange in African and Asian societies.

This will be their Uirst focused exhibition in a commercial gallery in London. Together this show examines how both artists engage with the past, history and or cultural traditions in their work.

Njideka Akunyili was born in Nigeria in 1983. Winner of the Rosenthal Family Foundation Award (2013), Rema Hort Mann Foundation Grant (2013) and Carol Schlosberg Memorial Prize for Excellence in Painting (2011). She studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, USA, and Yale University School of Art, USA. Recent and upcoming exhibitions have included Bronx Calling: The Second Bronx Biennial, Bronx Museum, New York (2013), Cinematic Visions, Paintings at the Edge of Reality, Victoria Miro Gallery, London (2013); Primary Sources, The Studio Museum, Harlem, New York (2012) and Retrospective of S_, curated by Sam Messer and Jonathan Safran Foer, Fredericks and Freiser Gallery, New York (2012). Artist Residencies have included International Studio & Curatorial Program, sponsored by the Edward and Sally Lier Fund of the New York Community Trust, Bronx Museum (2013), Artist in the Marketplace Program (2013), Acadia Summer Arts Program (2012) and Artist-­‐In-­‐Residence, Studio Museum in Harlem (2011). Her work is also included in the public collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Yale University Art Gallery, The Rubell Family Collection, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and The Studio Museum in Harlem. Akunyili’s work has been featured in several publications including ARTnews, New African Woman, CNN-­‐Inside Africa, Arise Magazine, Art Fag City, The New York Times, Artinfo, GalleristNY and The Hufington Post.

Simone Leigh creates sculpture, videos and installations informed by her interest in African art, ethnographic research, feminism and performance. She is a Creative Capital Grantee (2012) and a recipient of the LMCC Michael Richards Award (2012). Leigh has been awarded residencies other awards including the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant (2011); The artist-­‐in-­‐residence program at the Studio Museum in Harlem (2010–11); The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Workspace program, Bronx Museum’s Artist in the Marketplace program, the Art Matters research grant and the New York Foundation for The Arts Fellowship for Sculpture. Leigh was a facilitator of the 2012 International Art Programme at The Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos, Nigeria. Recent and upcoming exhibitions include solos shows at The Kitchen and Tilton Gallery in New York, NY, and group exhibitions at Contemporary Art Museum in Houston, SculptureCenter, NY, Kunsthalle Wien in Vienna; L’Appartement22 in Rabbat, Morocco; the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh; and the AVA Gallery in Cape Town, South Africa. Her work has been featured in several publications including Modern Painters, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Small AxE and Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art and Ebony Magazine.

Tiwani Contemporary
16 Little Portland Street
London W1W 8BP United Kingdom
Ph. +44 (0)20 76313808
info@tiwani.co.uk
www.tiwani.co.uk

Opening hours
Tuesday - Friday from 11am to 6pm
Saturday from 12pm to 5pm