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EDDY KAMUANGA ILUNGA: Nature Morte<br>
14 November, 2024 – 25 January, 2025
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EDDY KAMUANGA ILUNGA: Nature Morte<br>
14 November, 2024 – 25 January, 2025
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<h2>ROMUALD HAZOUMÈ at the 60th Venice Biennale<br>
20th April – 24th November, 2024</h2>
Photo © Jacopo La Forgia.<h2>ROMUALD HAZOUMÈ at the 60th Venice Biennale<br>
20th April – 24th November, 2024</h2>
Photo © Jacopo La Forgia.<h2>EDDY KAMUANGA ILLUNGA<br>Available from our Book Store, £45.95 + P&P</h2>248 pages, 200 full colour plates throughout. Published by Rizzoli.<h2>DREAM NO SMALL DREAM: The Story of October Gallery<br>Available from our Book Store, £40 + P&P</h2>304 pages, full colour plates throughout. Edited by Gerard Houghton.
 

FORTHCOMING EXHIBITION

14 November, 2024 – 25 January, 2025
Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga, Energie red (Red Energy), 2024. Acrylic on canvas. 188 cm x 203 cm.
Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga, Ces êtres à part (Those Other People), 2024. Oil and acrylic on canvas, 180 x 207 cm.
October Gallery presents Nature Morte, a new solo exhibition by Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga, one of the most exciting contemporary artists from the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Kamuanga’s fourth solo show at October Gallery, his striking paintings explore the hidden consequences of the toxic waste-matter that is poisoning the environment upon which local Congolese communities are dependent for survival and the basic necessities of life.

This latest series is a masterful blend of storytelling and symbolism, where each canvas helps to develop a shared narrative that uncovers a distinctly modern predicament. The almost surreal drama playing out before our eyes brings DRC’s traumatic history of exploitation by foreign powers right up to the present moment. The artist’s attention has moved beyond the horrific histories of Belgian colonial control to the contemporary situation where the neo-colonial powers have once again asserted control over the lives of ordinary Congolese people. To fulfil the insatiable demands of the computer industry and “green” battery production facilities, international companies are currently engaged in the rapid extraction of the Congo’s rich mineral resources, in particularly cobalt, copper, and coltan.

For many years, disturbing reports of deforestation, land pollution by wastewater spillages, contamination of drinking water and the restriction of local populations’ movements have become increasingly common. The harmful impacts of industrial mining processes on food production, human health and local biodiversity have been well-documented, particularly in Katanga in the Central part of the DRC, to where Kamuanga’s father and mother both trace their origins.

The paintings detail the awful cost in human life that our incessant demands for modern technology impose upon the unseen victims caught up in the consequences of industrial scale mining that takes little account of environmental destruction and human degradation. Burdened by the crushing weight of history, Kamuanga’s iconic figures bear the scars of a nation struggling to navigate the treacherous waters of neo-colonial exploitation, together with the erosion of a cultural heritage incapable of protecting the natural environment that, previously, had nurtured and sustained it.
 

 

NEWS, EVENTS & RECOMMENDATIONS


ROMUALD HAZOUMÈ at the 60th Venice Biennale
20th April – 24th November, 2024
Romuald Hazoumè has been selected as one of the four major artists to represent The Republic of Benin for the 60th edition of La Biennale di Venezia.

Entitled Everything Precious Is Fragile, this exhibition will explore the rich history of Benin, touching on themes such as the slave trade, the Amazon motif, spirituality and the Vodun religion. These themes are tied together by Benin's exploration of African feminism and pay tribute to women's versatility whilst envisioning a world where differences are seen as a source of richness and strength.

Acclaimed worldwide for his masks made from used plastic petrol cans, Romuald Hazoumè is an artist whose work is firmly rooted in Benin's social, political and cultural context and the globalized world.
Photo: © Jonathan Greet, 20016.
EL ANATSUI: AFTER THE RED MOON
Museum of Art Pudong, Shanghai, China
30th September, 2024 – 7th October, 2025
El Anatsui: After the Red Moon has begun its highly anticipated world tour, making a global debut at the prestigious Museum of Art Pudong (MAP), Shanghai, where it will be on display until October 2025. El Anatsui’s cascading metal sculptures have dramatically transformed MAP's entrance lobby and Hall X, offering visitors an immersive experience of his masterful exploration of history, materiality and transformation. This global tour marks a significant milestone in Anatsui's career, and we congratulate him on this extraordinary achievement, which continues to captivate audiences around the world.

This exhibition was originally conceived and commissioned as the Hyundai Commission: El Anatsui: Behind the Red Moon for Tate Modern's Turbine Hall, London in 2023.
Installation view of El Anatsui: After the Red Moon, 2024.
Alessandro Wang ©️ Museum of Art Pudong. Courtesy of the Artist
Gallery Talk:
Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga in conversation with Hannah O’Leary, Senior Director, Head of Modern & Contemporary African Art at Sotheby’s.
Saturday, 16th November, 2024
3.00 pm (free)
Join the conversation between Eddy Kamuanga and Hannah O’Leary as they unpack the ideas behind the artist’s work and new solo exhibition Nature Morte at October Gallery. The artist’s paintings are informed by the disturbing reports about the harmful impacts of industrial mining processes on food production, human health and local biodiversity in Katanga in the Central part of the DRC, to where Kamuanga’s father and mother both trace their origins.

The event will take place in the gallery’s ground floor and has disabled access.
photo: Jonathan Greet
John Whiting (1931 – 2024)
October Gallery’s “recording Angel”
All the directors and staff of October Gallery were immensely saddened to learn that John Whiting, one of our oldest and dearest friends in London, has passed away, at the age of 93.

During the 70s, John rapidly became one of the most sought-after Acoustics Engineers and Sound Designers in London. Soon after October Gallery opened, in 1979, John installed what he described as “the sound studio of my dreams” in October Gallery’s underground basement chambers. As the Sound Designer of Electric Phoenix, the celebrated acapella electro-acoustic group, October Sound quickly became the hub of a remarkable enterprise, recording many of the top musicians, composers and performers on the international stage: John Cage, Luciano Berio, Hedli Anderson, William Burroughs, to name just a few. John became the Gallery’s firm friend, and was instrumental in recording many of the early Gallery events including those historical concerts produced by Nadabrahman, in the 80s, presenting the cream of Indian musicians, Ravi Shankar, Dr. L Subramaniam, Ustaad Shujaat Khan, etc.

Over three decades or more John’s tape and digital output came to form the backbones of two significant archives of huge importance to us, one October Gallery related and the other for the Institute of Ecotechnics, October Gallery’s parent organisation. In recognition of the conscientious professionalism with which John provided these essential services for so long, John was elected as a Fellow of the Institute of Ecotechnics in 2015. October Gallery sends its sincere condolences to Mary Whiting, who looked after John and so carefully, and who, more than anyone else, will miss him most dearly.
OCTOBER GALLERY at Abu Dhabi Art | Booth M5
20th – 24th November, 2024 Abu Dhabi, UAE
For the 2024 edition of Abu Dhabi Art, October Gallery will showcase compelling works by Golnaz Fathi, Alexis Peskine, Rachid Koraïchi, Govinda Sah ‘Azad’ and Jukhee Kwon. Highlights include Golnaz Fathi's Sunlight (2022), a striking canvas of layered script and vivid primary hues that evoke both warmth and the intensity of the sun.

View works by all featured artists
Golnaz Fathi, Sunlight, 2022.
Acrylic and ink on canvas 148 x 126 cm.
Aubrey Williams: Art, Histories, Futures
Available from Friday, 22nd October, 2024
We are delighted to announce that Aubrey Williams: Art, Histories, Futures, the first major monograph on pioneering modernist Aubrey Williams, will be published on 22nd October, 2024.

The book features an extraordinary selection of unpublished and out-of-print writings by Williams, alongside artworks that showcase the full breadth of his practice — from early abstracts and lesser-known murals to his later major works.

The monograph is edited by Ian Dudley and Maridowa Williams, with a foreword by Alex Farquharson, introduction by Kobena Mercer and is published by the Paul Mellon Centre.
GOVINDA SAH ‘AZAD’ at Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery
19th October, 2024 – 23rd February, 2025
JMW Turner and changing visions of landscape is a major new exhibition exploring artists' approaches to landscape from the 17th century to the present day.

The exhibition includes works by Govinda Sah ‘Azad’ who first encountered Turner’s art while studying at the College of Fine Art in Kathmandu. Sah’s later move to Margate introduced him to the Kentish coastline, where Turner famously captured its unique light in many of his late works. Today, Sah continues to live and work in Margate.
Govinda Sah 'Azad', Here/Everywhere, 2023.
Oil and acrylic on canvas, 140 x 160 cm.
LR VANDY at The Artist’s Garden
The roof of Temple tube station, London, WC2R 2PH
3rd October, 2024 – 3rd September, 2025
The Artist’s Garden and theCOLAB proudly present M A R Y M A R Y, a landmark outdoor sculpture exhibition in central London showcasing the work of nine women artists, including LR Vandy. It is set within The Artist's Garden — a once-overlooked half-acre rooftop above Temple tube station, now the world’s first sculpture garden dedicated to women artists.
LR Vandy, Superhero Cog Woman #01, 2019/2024. Installation view, MARY MARY at theCOLAB The Artist's Garden, Temple Station roof terrace, 2024. Image courtesy theCOLAB and © Nick Turpin.
ROMUALD HAZOUMÈ at the International Center of Photography, New York
26th September, 2024 – 6th January, 2025
Romuald Hazoumè’s photographic series Kpayoland is featured in the exhibition We Are Here: Scenes from the Streets! at the ICP.

We Are Here: Scenes from the Streets! captures 50 years of contemporary street photography from over 30 international photographers. This expansive re-viewing of street photography opens up important discussions on how ‘the street’ and public space are places of community, joy, self-expression, advocacy, changing landscapes, and social dynamics.
Photo by Anders Jones courtesy of ICP.
EL ANATSUI at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark .
11th October, 2024 - 27th April, 2025
El Anatsui's installation Akua's Surviving Children is now on view at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in the new exhibition OCEAN. Anatsui discovered these driftwood logs on the shores of Hellebaek in Denmark, and upon examining the weathered wood, he drew a poignant connection to the victims of slavery.

OCEAN is an exhibition, where history and the present meet in an intersection between art and science.
Extended: LR VANDY and KENJI YOSHIDA at Honey & Smoke Grill House.
Until 4th January, 2025. Honey & Smoke Grill House, 216 Great Portland Street, London.
On the ground floor, explore LR Vandy’s dynamic sculptures, where model boat hulls transform into powerful ‘masks’—crafted with fishing floats, porcupine quills and acupuncture needles— that reflect themes of migration and transportation.

Downstairs, Kenji Yoshida’s mesmerising works on paper and canvas feature coloured forms in silver and gold leaf, evoking life's essential forces and unity.

The collaboration has been designed by October Gallery’s Artistic Director Elisabeth Lalouschek, Curator Eleri Fanshawe, and Chefs Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer, the couple behind Honey & Smoke Grill House.
Photo by Lucy Stewart
EDDY KAMUANGA ILUNGA at IVAM Centre Julio González, Valencia
4th July, 2024 - 8th December, 2025
Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga’s large-scale painting Reconnaissance II, from his Mangbetu series, is currently on view at the IVAM Centre Julio González in Nobosudru: The Becoming Icon of a Mangbetu Woman. This group exhibition traces the transformation of Nobosudru’s image—originally captured in northeastern Congo and intended as a status symbol—into an emblem of Black Africa. Ilunga’s work reflects on the Mangbetu people’s cultural resilience amidst pressures to modernise.
Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga, Reconnaissance II, 2016.
Acrylic and oil on canvas, 170 x 150 cm.

 

VISTING OCTOBER GALLERY

Bloomsbury, London

October Gallery has been instrumental in bringing to worldwide attention many of the world’s leading international artists, including El Anatsui, Rachid Koraïchi, Romuald Hazoumè, Nnenna Okore, Laila Shawa and Kenji Yoshida. The Gallery promotes the Transvangarde, the very best in contemporary art from around the planet, as well as maintaining a cultural hub in central London for poets, writers, intellectuals and artists, and hosts talks, performances and seminars, see www.octobergallery.co.uk/events

The rich diversity of art presented is an inspiration to collectors and enthusiasts. Institutions such as the British Museum, London; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, Germany; Neue Galerie, Kassel, Germany; Setagagya Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan have all collected works from October Gallery.

Founded in 1979, October Gallery is a charitable trust which is supported by sales of art, rental of the Gallery's unique facilities, grants from various funding bodies and the active support of dedicated artists, musicians, writers and many friends from around the world. The Gallery’s Education Department is inclusive of all ages from under 5’s to PGCE student and delivers a wide range of provision, see www.octobergalleryeducation.com

October Gallery is open from 12:30 to 17:30 pm, Tuesday to Saturday.
The Gallery is closed during official holidays and the entire month of August.


 

ACCESSIBILITY

There are two steps at the main entrance, each has a rise of 160mm and a 310mm tread (no handrail). The main entrance push door is 750mm wide.
Assisted or ramp access at the Gallery’s main entrance is available upon request.

Chairs can be found in the Gallery space.
The refectory is fully accessible by wheelchair.
Access to the courtyard has a 100mm ramp down coming from the corridor door.
There is also an accessible toilet in the Courtyard.

October Gallery is a Grade II listed building and therefore has no lift access to rooms above the ground floor. This includes the Theatre, the Clubroom and the first floor.

We welcome all visitors and will do our best to accommodate specific needs. Please do let us know in advance if there is anything in particular, we can help with. Call + 44 (0)20 7242 7367 or email gallery@octobergallery.co.uk preferably a day in advance.




October Gallery Education supported by: