OBIAGELI OKIGBO
 “Building upon a fundamentally architectonic understanding of the world; light, rhythm, geometry & enclosure, my work attempts to assemble 'poems' or 'connections' of perception which permits the language of representation to engage with issues of transience, memory, history, rites...
I am interested in archetypes: "primordial mental image inherited by all." I am looking for points of convergence... constants. I look to Mythology, Nature and Science; they exist in every culture but with timeless themes. Myths are "clues" to the spiritual potentialities of the human life.
The source of my interventions is this shared potentiality.
The outcome âdrawings, paintings, installations- represent tentative solutions. But, like archeological maps, reveal through its layers; the passage of time, history, movement, traces, imprintsâŠâ
Obiageli Okigbo was born in Ibadan Nigeria in 1964, studied in Nigeria then graduated from Oxford Brooks University with a BA in Architecture and pursued her post-graduate studies at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, London. She practiced architecture in London, Rome and Paris until 1994. In 1995 she moved to Brussels where she lives with her two children Sofia and Luca.
Expanding her reach into the visual arts, she began developing her work on a theoretical level through painting and has consequently exhibited in Nigeria, United Kingdom and Belgium including two major solo exhibitions in Lagos, 2003 and London, 2007. She established the Christopher Okigbo Foundation in 2005, which is tasked with researching and preserving the legacy of Christopher Okigbo, poet (1932-1967).
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
Solo Exhibition; Tapping into the Known, Brunei gallery, School of Oriental & African Studies, London | 2007 | |
Conflict Culture: Exhibition/Colloquium (L-ARN/M.A.P initiative) Brussels, Belgium | 2006 | |
Established the Christopher Okigbo Foundation; Brussels, NY and Ojoto | 2005 | |
Two woman show; âmythological landscapesâ at Espace Alizees, Brussels, Belgium | 2004 | |
Solo Exhibition; âTapping into the knownâ at the Nimbus Arts Center, Lagos, Nigeria | 2003 | |
Group exhibition at the 7th International Group Show and Art Festival, at the National Museum, Enugu, Nigeria | 2002 | |
Installation for exhibition; 'Viva la muerte! , at the International Festival of Music, Couleur Cafe, Brussels, Belgium | 2001 | |
Group exhibition; 'Des Elles des Femmesâ, at the Centre Culturel d'Etterbeek - Espace Senghor, Brussels, Belgium | 2001 | |
National Museum, Enugu, Nigeriam | 1996 | |
Didi Museum, Lagos, Nigeria Collective exhibition; âSongs for Idotoâ, including; El Anatsui, Uche Okeke, Bruce Onobrakpeya & Obiora Udechukwu | 1997 |
PUBLICATIONS
NKA Journal of contemporary African Art: 21st Century and the mega-shows-A Curatorâs Roundtable | 2008 | |
Fathers and Daughters; An anthology of exploration, edited by Ato Quayson, Ayebia Clarke publishing | 2008 | |
BBC Focus on Africa | 2007 |