BREAKING: Gerald Chukwuma’s new solo exhibition pays homage to ‘The Igbo Landing’

Paying homage to ‘The Igbo Landing’, the mass suicide in 1803 by captive Igbo people who took control of the slave ship they were on, and refused to submit to slavery in Georgia, United States; Gerald Chukwuma’s new body of work, Water Carried Us Here, Water Will Carry Us Away will debut at O’DA Art Gallery.......CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE>>>>>

Kicking off on Saturday, March 8th to April 5th, 2025, his legend-inspired solo exhibition will be open to the general public.

The bravery has inspired African American folklore and culture particularly in the American South. By contrast in Nigeria, little appears in public records of ‘The Igbo Landing’. Chukwuma has explored this historic event through portraiture and watercolour abstraction in The Wrinkle Series and Index Series respectively.

The Wrinkle Series are a set of works on canvas paper made using a multilayered close drip method. They are inspired by Chukwuma’s travels through southeastern Nigeria during which he collected oral accounts from the descendant community of “The Igbo Landing” in Southeastern Nigeria.

Drawing from these accounts, Chukwuma has derived a conceptual approach to connecting currents between our seemingly distant continents, which are in essence, entwined through our shared history, heritage and tales of survival.

Working as both a lament and a celebration of the passage of time, the series is an interrogation of archival omissions and its impact on our recollection of our history. The density of contour and scumbling lines which define these paintings, play a
significant role in conveying the visual rhythm in the composition; highlighting the tension between inner emotions and the external world.

Chukwuma’s focus on line quality and mark making, evident in his celebrated wood and metal sculptures, was long inspired by the ancient Uli art tradition from southeastern Nigeria. Underlying Chukwuma’s shift from his
celebrated sculptures to painting and watercolors, is his belief in Uli motifs as cultural and personal signifiers.

In these new works, paper, found object collage and Uli iconography, maps sections of the canvas, continuing his career-long obsession with the ancient mark making system indigenous to Igbos and its neighbouring regions.

The title Water Carried Us Here, Water Will Carry Us Away, is drawn from a song believed to have been sung by the enslaved Igbos as they marched into the ocean in Georgia, United States.

This title encapsulates the duality of water; both as a vehicle of bondage during the transatlantic slave trade and as a means of reclaiming autonomy and resistance. More than two centuries later, echoes of this song remain alive in southeastern Nigeria, exemplifying the enduring continuity of ancient beliefs, traditions and resilience within the Igbo community and beyond.

In the second set of works, The Index Series, Chukwuma uses a unique technique involving watercolors and inks to create abstract shapes with figural references. A salt treatment creates a crystallised effect of crisp texture and stark beauty. “Technique is therapy” says the artist who emphasizes the importance of method and intention, often valuing it over the final outcome.

The result is a dynamic interplay between rigid control and chance discoveries, determinism and freewill.

Parallels begin to emerge between Chukwuma’s reliance on pools of water (to form the base of his compositions) and the waters of the Atlantic Ocean over which millions of Africans were ferried to slavery.

As much about viscosity and colour action as it is about the past, water as a medium takes on multiple layers of significance for Chukwuma as a powerful and multifaceted symbol, reinforcing the connection between Africa and its diaspora, loss and connection, as well as trauma and creativity. By centering water as a metaphor, Chukwuma deepens the understanding of how modernity and identity are shaped and defined in today’s world.

If The Wrinkle Series is focused on tragedy and remembrance, The Index Series are concerned with the possibilities of fate and new futures. “We should also look at the possibilities of what that history gave to us and what better things it can bring for us because it will continue to evolve”, says Chukwuma, displaying the need for audacity in art, the importance of storytelling and oral histories, the legacies of the Atlantic Slavery Trade, memory, cultural continuity and the evolution of artistic identity.

A Nigerian painter, sculptor, and environmental artist known for his intricate mixed-media sculptures using materials like aluminium, copper and wood, his work explores themes of migration, globalisation and transformation, incorporating traditional lgbo symbols.

Born in 1973 in Enugu, he studied Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, graduating with First Class Honours in 2003. He has exhibited in over 12 solo and 30 group shows worldwide and has been recognised in competitions like the Eminent National Art Competition.

His work has been featured in CNN’s Inside Africa and The New York Times. He has participated in major projects, including Art X Puzzles (2020), Building Bridges through Contemporary Arts (2021) and the Armory Off Site Fair (2022). In 2023, a documentary by Almas Art Foundation chronicled his artistic journey.

He was nominated for the Norval Sovereign African Art Prize 2025 and founded the Gerald Chukwuma Art Prize to support young artists.

He is a Fellow of the Society of Nigerian Artists and has works in prestigious collections worldwide. Passionate about education, he aims to further his studies and mentor emerging artists.