CURRENT EXHIBITION

EDDY KAMUANGA ILUNGA: Nature Morte

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.

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FORTHCOMING EXHIBITION

Material Sensibilities

30 January – 1 March 2025

**Gaia Ozwyn**, *To be Sure of Anything (to be sure of its end)*, 2024.
Oil and concrete on linen canvas.

**Xanthe Somers**, *Weaver's Woe*, 2024.
Glazed stoneware, 57 × 50 × 50 cm.

October Gallery presents Material Sensibilities, an exhibition of vital and challenging works by Nnenna Okore, Naomi Wanjiku Gakunga, Susanne Kessler, LR Vandy, Jukhee Kwon, Sokari Douglas Camp and Sylvie Franquet, which explore the liminal boundaries of creative materiality, alongside new works by Xanthe Somers, Theresa Weber, Gaia Ozwyn and Khadija Jayi.

Material Sensibilities brings together sculptures, ceramics and paintings. Deploying a multitude of processes: cut, weave, burn, paste, rip, pin and embed, each piece invites the viewer to contemplate the dynamic dance between materiality and the artist’s hand

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NEWS, EVENTS & RECOMMENDATIONS

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.

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Alessandro Wang ©️ Museum of Art Pudong. Courtesy of the Artist

Gallery Talk: Artists Xanthe Somers and Gaia Ozwyn in conversation with Curator Eleri Fanshawe.

Saturday, 1st February, 2025
3.00 – 4.30pm at October Gallery.
Entry: Free

Join us for a discussion between Artists Xanthe Somers and Gaia Ozwyn and October Gallery’s Curator, Eleri Fanshawe which explores the relationship between the artists and their chosen materials to create bold ceramics and textured paintings. The conversation will investigate the artists’ influence, their practice and the new works presented in the exhibition Material Sensibilities.

The talk takes place on the gallery’s ground floor and has disabled access.

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New Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga prints available

Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga’s striking new works from his current solo exhibition Nature Morte can now be acquired as giclee prints at the gallery and from our online store.

Energie red (Red Energy) and Ces êtres à part (Those Other People) poignantly confront the human toll and environmental devastation caused by industrial-scale mining, driven by the relentless demand for modern technology.

Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga, Ces êtres à part (Those Other People), 2024.

Edition of 25. Archival giclée print (HDX ink) on 100% cotton 300gms archival paper, 40 x 43.4 cm (image size). Signed by the artist

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Watch the full Gallery Talk: Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga in conversation with Hannah O’Leary on our YouTube channel.

Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga, one of the leading contemporary artists from the Democratic Republic of Congo, explores the inspirations and themes behind his latest series of paintings featured in our current exhibition, Nature Morte.

Watch here

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.

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SANTOS MOTOAPOHUA DE LA TORRE and EL ANATSUI at Fondation Opale

Lens, Switzerland

15th December, 2024 – 20th April, 2025

The exhibition NOTHING TOO BEAUTIFUL FOR THE GODS at Fondation Opale highlights the intersection of art and spirituality and unfolds in three steps with more than 60 works.

The exhibition seeks to lift the veil on the visual expressions of Indigenous cultures, often ignored in the context of contemporary art, and to reveal their current relevance with featured artists such as El Anatsui and Huichol artist Santos Motoapohua de la Torre.

Santos Motoapohua de la Torre, Dos Divinidades: Tatewari y el Águila, 2018.

Beads, beeswax and plywood, 150 x 120 cm.

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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.

October Gallery Cafe is open from 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm, Tuesday to Friday.

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:

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