Otobong Nkanga
To Dig A Hole That Collapses Again
31 Mar - 02 Sep 2018
Installation view, Otobong Nkanga: To Dig a Hole That Collapses Again, MCA Chicago March 31 – September 2, 2018 Work shown: Carved To Flow, 2017–18 Courtesy of the artist Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago.
Otobong Nkanga, In Pursuit of Bling: The Transformation, 2014. Tapestry; 71 7/10 x 71 in. (182 x 180 cm); edition of 5, aside from 1 artist’s proof. Courtesy of Galerie n situ - Fabienne Leclerc, Paris
Otobong Nkanga, Infinite Yield, 2015. Tapestry; 133 2/5 x 68 9/10 in. (288 x 175 cm); edition of 6, aside from 1 artist’s proof. © Museum of Modern Art, Antwerp. Courtesy of Galerie n situ - Fabienne Leclerc, Paris
Otobong Nkanga, The Weight of Scars, 2015. Textile (viscose, wool, mohair, and cotton) and 10 forex printing plates; 99 2/5 x 241 in. (253 x 612 cm); edition of 3, aside from 1 artist’s proof. © Museum of Modern Art, Antwerp. Courtesy of Galerie n situ - Fabienne Leclerc, Paris
Otobong Nkanga, In Pursuit of Bling: The Discovery, 2014. Tapestry; 74 4/5 x 71 in. (190 x 180 cm); edition of 5, aside from 1 artist’s proof. Courtesy of Galerie n situ - Fabienne Leclerc, Paris
OTOBONG NKANGA
To Dig A Hole That Collapses Again
31 March - 2 September 2018
Born in Nigeria and now based in Antwerp, Otobong Nkanga explores the contested social and political histories of colonialism, with a particular focus on the relationship between Africa and the Western world. She does this through performance, drawing, photography, and installation—examining how raw minerals are transported through various covert economies and how they are transformed into desirable consumer objects.
Nkanga is fascinated with what she has referred to as “glimmer” and “shine,” the surface qualities of natural resources such as mica, a mineral that is used in makeup and turned into an object of seduction. This interest has led the artist far and wide, studying the intense mining of the world’s natural resources since the rise of late capitalism. One of the primary means by which the artist’s interest manifests is through the body. In Nkanga’s works on paper and her tapestries, the body becomes a border implicated within the field of mining.
Nkanga acts as a cultural anthropologist—tracing the violent means by which contested minerals and objects are exhumed from their natural environments, such as Nigeria and Namibia—and considers how they are transported to the West. Through her work, the artist re-imagines our relationship to our everyday environment.
Otobong Nkanga is the artist’s first major North American museum survey.
The exhibition is organized by Omar Kholeif, Manilow Senior Curator and Director of Global Initiatives at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. It is presented in the Bergman Family Gallery on the museum’s second floor.
To Dig A Hole That Collapses Again
31 March - 2 September 2018
Born in Nigeria and now based in Antwerp, Otobong Nkanga explores the contested social and political histories of colonialism, with a particular focus on the relationship between Africa and the Western world. She does this through performance, drawing, photography, and installation—examining how raw minerals are transported through various covert economies and how they are transformed into desirable consumer objects.
Nkanga is fascinated with what she has referred to as “glimmer” and “shine,” the surface qualities of natural resources such as mica, a mineral that is used in makeup and turned into an object of seduction. This interest has led the artist far and wide, studying the intense mining of the world’s natural resources since the rise of late capitalism. One of the primary means by which the artist’s interest manifests is through the body. In Nkanga’s works on paper and her tapestries, the body becomes a border implicated within the field of mining.
Nkanga acts as a cultural anthropologist—tracing the violent means by which contested minerals and objects are exhumed from their natural environments, such as Nigeria and Namibia—and considers how they are transported to the West. Through her work, the artist re-imagines our relationship to our everyday environment.
Otobong Nkanga is the artist’s first major North American museum survey.
The exhibition is organized by Omar Kholeif, Manilow Senior Curator and Director of Global Initiatives at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. It is presented in the Bergman Family Gallery on the museum’s second floor.