Overview
Unit are delighted to feature a trio of exceptional artists for 1-54’s London 2024 edition: Luke Agada, Emma Odumade and Stacey Gillian Abe.
Exhibited at Booth W13, the artists together present a thrilling demonstration of contemporary Afro-diasporic artistic practice, interweaving historic and ancestral references with commentary on the dissemination and consumption of Black culture today. Combining the strength of their individual identities into a unified voice, Unit is pleased to present a booth that examines themes of cultural dislocation within a globalised world.
Together, the works of these three leading contemporary artists form a complex tapestry of expansive concepts, highly technical details and a tactile approach to material, complementing the individual narratives behind each piece.
Selected Works
Stacey Gillian Abe
Naki 3
2024
150 x 130 cm
Stacey Gillian Abe
Forgotten Days
2024
150 x 130 cm
Stacey Gillian Abe
The Last Night 2
2024
130 x 150 cm
Luke Agada
Synapses No. 7
2024
55.9 x 45.7 cm
Luke Agada
Synapses No.10
2024
55.9 x 45.7 cm
Luke Agada
Synapses No. 14
2024
55.9 x 45.7 cm
Emma Odumade
Mr Fly
2024
147.32 x 119.38 cm
Emma Odumade
A Wave to Remember
2024
146.05 x 119.38 cm
Emma Odumade
Call of Duty (A New Anthem)
2024
101.6 x 101.6 cm
Artists
Luke Agada (b. Lagos, 1992) creates scenes full of fluid surfaces and ethereal characters. His canvases manifest as surreal worlds, but Agada’s distinct visual style is in fact grounded in post-structuralist and post-colonial theory. In particular, the writings of Chinua Achebe and Chimamanada Ngozi Adichie, two trail-blazing Nigerian authors, taught him the power of fiction and its ability to engage with real-world change.
As his characters metamorphose into animals, machines, landscapes and one another, Agada builds complex, non-linear narratives that interrogate African identities within the legacy of colonialism. Multiple unseen forces push and pull at the characters and objects in his work, balancing post-colonial dreams against reality.
Agada has had recent national and international exhibitions with moniquemeloche, Chicago, IL (2023); Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Berlin, Germany (2023); Hive Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China (2023) and has been a recipient of various awards including Newcity’s Breakout Artist (2024); Studios at MASS MoCA Fellowship (2023); and The Helen Frankenthaler Award at SAIC in (2022).
Emma Odumade (b. Lagos, 2000) uses charcoal, graphite, acrylic, ink and old photos across canvas or paper to build highly specific, layered narratives in his work. Concerning his hyper-detailed methodology, the artist explains, “My work references the existence of one. I believe every detail of the universe matters, therefore I am spotlighting the existence of all.”
Understanding the pencil as a formidable weapon for activism, and harnessing the power of visual storytelling, Odumade explores the minute references that construct an individual identity. With meticulous strokes of graphite pencils he depicts tribal scarification patterns that mark ethnic memberships, and also creates the varied skin tones of his protagonists with black tea, a domestic staple in Nigeria which carries emotive cultural significance.
Odumade was recently featured in the group exhibitions Shout Plenty at the African Artists’ Foundation (AAF), Africa Supernova at Kunsthal KAdE (2023), and Return the Gaze at Kansas City Art Institute in the USA. Previous exhibitions include The Medium Is The Message, curated by Azu Nwagbogu at Unit and Feedback at Arthill Gallery. He presented the solo show Made in Lagos in 2021 at the African Arts Foundation. Odumade has featured in Forbes and the Financial Times, amongst other publications.
Stacey Gillian Abe‘s figurative paintings draw from her early autobiographical experiences, offering a fresh perspective on conventional portrayals of Black women. Her work focuses on the idea of shared memory, reflecting on how traditions evolve from one generation to the next, passed down through a family lineage. Questioning identity, gender, and spirituality, Abe’s paintings serve as a portal to memory — especially sensory memory.
Abe’s use of the colour indigo is central to these themes, referencing the historic value placed on the dyed fabric enabled by the transatlantic slave trade. The deep history of indigo is therefore inscribed on the Black body and is symbolised through embroidered threads that Abe meticulously weaves into each canvas. Embroidery and fabric thus become powerful visual elements in her practice, allowing her to explore traditional, historical, and personal associations to textiles.
In 2022, Unit presented Abe’s debut solo exhibition in London, Shrub-let of Old Ayivu and mounted a solo presentation of Abe’s work at EXPO Chicago in 2023. In 2024, Abe participated in the group exhibition In Praise of Black Errantry at the 60th Venice Biennale, and has exhibited institutionally at the 21c Museum Hotel St. Louis (2023); Museum of the African Diaspora (2023); Kunsthal KAdE (2023); Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg Museum (2022); Salvatore Ferragamo Museum (2022); and Qingdao Art Museum (2021).
Abe was listed among the Forbes Africa 30 under 30 Creatives, 2018, and is included in multiple public collections, including FAMM (Femmes Artistes du Musée de Mougins), France, Pizzuti Collection of the Columbus Museum of Art, USA, 21c Museum, Chicago, USA, Vanhaerents Art Collection, Brussels, Belgium, W Art Foundation, Hong Kong, and Weaverbird Sculpture Park, Masaka, Uganda.
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