Jebila Wolfe-Okongwu – River Crossing

Mostra personale

Comunicato stampa

Jebila Wolfe-Okongwu was born in London to a Nigerian father and a British mother. His earliest years were spent in Africa, before studies and graduation from art school in Australia. He lives and works in Rome.
The paintings and sculpture in this exhibition are all made from banana boxes worked with paint, fiberglass and resin. With their exuberant surface made of colours and words they draw on various inspirations, from the geometric patterns of Igbo tribal art, to Pop Art’s use of advertising. The objects - a canoe, paddles, pails, bananas – recall the African Diaspora and the long migration many Africans feel impelled to embark upon, making dangerous crossings over water to reach a hoped-for land of better prospects.
At the end of the exhibition, Wolfe-Okongwu will cross the river Tiber in a similar banana-box canoe in a performance designed to highlight this plight.