Otobong Nkanga

In Humus Blues, Otobong Nkanga (b. 1974, Kano, Nigeria) brings together sculptures, monumental tapestries, drawings, paintings, photography and poetry. The artist moves freely between textile, sculpture, installation, performance, painting, photography, ceramics and the spoken word, using colour, in-depth research and an innovative use of materials to reveal the connections between landscapes, people, systems and histories. The title is telling: humus refers to the fertile topsoil that nourishes new life, but also to the earth that is under pressure from pollution and resource extraction; blues stands both for the colour blue and for the music in which melancholy and loss go hand in hand with rhythm and perseverance. In Nkanga’s work, meaning emerges between materials: threads form networks, metal returns to dust through corrosion, and minerals become colour, sheen or texture.

Image: Otobong Nkanga, Double Plot, 2018