<strong>Nnenna Okore</strong>, <em>On the Long Run</em> (detail), 2017. Cheesecloth, burlap, jute strings, dye and wire, 127 x 117 x 38 cm.<strong>Nnenna Okore</strong>, <em>Unleashed</em> (detail), 2017. Newspaper, acrylic paint and wire, 366 x 457 x 69 cm.<strong>Nnenna Okore</strong>, <em>Unleashed</em>, 2017. Newspaper, acrylic paint and wire, 366 x 457 x 69 cm.

NNENNA OKORE

Photo: © the Artist, 2014.
Nnenna Okore.
Photo: © the Artist, 2014.
Nnenna Okore, Here and Now, 2017. Cheesecloth, jute string, dye and wire, 209 x 203 x 33 cm.


Nnenna Okore’s intricate works contain rich textures, and reveal extraordinary manifestations of colour and formations, often resembling organic elements in nature, such as roots, veins, and flora. Each visceral sculpture is created through various repetitive and labour-intensive processes, like teasing, twisting, dyeing and sewing, applied to natural materials such as cheesecloth, burlap and paper.

Okore is a Professor of Art at North Park University, Chicago. She has a BA in Painting from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and both an MA and MFA from the University of Iowa. Okore first showed at October Gallery in 2008. She is a 2012 Fulbright Award recipient and has exhibited internationally. Her works have been featured in several important exhibitions such as Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, USA; We Face Forward, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, UK; Africa Africans, Museu Afro Brasil, Sao Paulo, Brazil; and When the Heavens Meet the Earth, The Heong Gallery, Cambridge, UK. In 2018, her major installation Sheer Audacity, was exhibited at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, USA. Her work is in many international collections, including the World Bank, Washington DC, USA; Newark Museum, New Jersey, USA; Fondation Blachere, France; and the Embassy of the United States, Abuja, Nigeria.

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View below for career highlights and works for sale by the artist.


 

Career Highlights



 

Selected Works





 

NNENNA OKORE

Born in 1975, Australia, raised mainly in Nsukka, Nigeria. Lives and works in Chicago, USA.
Education
2005    Ph.D. Fine Art, Monash University, Australia 
2005    M.F.A. Sculpture, University of Iowa, USA
2004    M.A. Sculpture, University of Iowa, USA
1999    B.A. Painting, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
Selected solo exhibitions
2024   Landfeels, O’Connor Art Gallery (Dominican University), Chicago, IL, USA 
Holding Space, The Bentway, The Betway Skate Trail, Toronto, Canada 
Earth Matters, Drake Gardens Albany Park, Chicago, IL, USA 
Chasing Butterflies in Harmattan, Sakhile&Me Gallery, Frankfurt, Germany 
2023   Spirit Dance, Stanley Museum of Art, University of Iowa, IA, USA 
2022   In/Flux, MADA Gallery, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia 
Macroscopic Organisms, AKAA art fair, Paris, France 
Making Kin, Carlson Tower Gallery, Chicago, IL USA
2022   In/Flux, MADA Gallery, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia 
Macroscopic Organisms, AKAA art fair, Paris, France 
Making Kin, Carlson Tower Gallery, Chicago, IL USA
2021   Bioplastic: Thing Power, B27 Gallery, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia 
2020   Solo Booth, Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town, South Africa with Sakhile&Me, Frankfurt 
2019   Plasmorganisms, Chicago Public Library, Albany Park Branch, Chicago, IL, USA 
2018   Embodiment, Sakhile&Me, Frankfurt, Germany 
2017   Ụkwa Ruo Oge Ya Ọ Daa, - There’s a time for everything, October Gallery, London, UK
Ùtútù, Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT, USA 
Nnenna Okore: Osimili, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA 
Anima, CSPS, Legion Art Galleries, Cedar Rapids, IA, USA 
2016   Rotunda Projects: Nnenna Okore, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN, USA
When all is said and done, Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago, USA
2015   Nnenna Okore: Owu, Arrowhead Gallery, Waubonsee Community College, Sugar Grove, IL,USA 
Nkata: An Installation by Nnenna Okore, Krannert Art Museum, Champaign, IL, USA 
On the Brink: New Work by Nnenna Okore, Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL, USA 
2014   Twist and Turns, David Krut Projects, New York, USA
Nnenna Okore: Fiber of Being and African Textiles, Welch School of Art and Gallery, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA
Unfound, Beard Art Center Gallery, Indiana Wesleyan University, Marion, IN, USA
“Will you walk to the end of the earth with me”, Carlson Tower Gallery, North Park University, Chicago, IL, USA
2013   Akaraka: What Will Be, Art Twenty One, Lagos, Nigeria
2012   Nnenna Okore: Transfiguration, Contemporary African Art Gallery, New York, USA
2011   Nnenna Okore: New Works, Herron School of Art and Design Gallery, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA;
Shokoloko, Craft Alliance, St. Louis, MO, USA
Metamorphoses, October Gallery, London, UK
Torn Apart, David Krut Projects, New York, USA
Nnenna Okore: On the Edge, Dittmar Memorial Gallery, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA 
Rush, Skidmore College Gallery, New York, USA
2010   Life After, Noyes Cultural Arts Center, Evanston, IL, USA 
Recovered Energies, Bekris Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA 
Absurd Beauty, Northeastern Illinois University Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA 
2009   Strings and Patterns, Viberto University Gallery, La Crosse, WI, USA 
Anyanwu, Carl A. Fields Center for Equality Gallery, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA 
Twisted Ambience, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL, USA 
Common Thread, Bekris Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA 
Of Earth…Bark and Topography, Goethe-Institut, Lagos, Nigeria 
2008   Ulukububa - Infinite Flow, October Gallery, London, UK
Moonlight Tales, Tall Grass Association, Park Forest, IL, USA 
Affrika West, Oriel Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno, Wales, UK 
2007    Reflection, Contemporary African Art Gallery, New York, US 
Sub-consciousness, Adam Hall Gallery, Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL, USA 
2006   Trans-figuration, Robert F. DeCaprio Art Gallery, Moraine Valley Community College, Palos Hills, IL, USA
Betwixt and Between, Carlson Tower Gallery, North Park University, Chicago, IL, USA 
2005    Paper to Paper, Armature Art Gallery, University of Iowa, Iowa, USA
2004   Accumulations, Arts Iowa City, Iowa, USA
2003    Re-presented, Armature Gallery, University of Iowa, IA, USA .
2002    Beyond the Lines, Didi Museum, Lagos, Nigeria.
2001    Metaphors, Alternative space, Lagos, Nigeria, Curator: Bisi Silver, London.
Selected group exhibitions
2025   Material Sensibilities, October Gallery, London, UK 
Public Matters, Public Art Abu DHabi (PAAD), Abu DHabi, UAE 
2024   Climates and Carpets, Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum, Baku, Azerbaijan 
To Weave the Sky: Textile Abstractions from the Jorge M. Perez Collection, 23, Miami, FL, USA 
I am all the loves I have ever known, Sakhile&Me, Frankfurt, Germany 
Voices from Abroad, Behncke Gallery, Munich, Germany 
Part of Art Basel Miami Beach Art Fair, Jenkins Johnson, Miami, FL, USA 
Neo-Custodians: Woven Narratives of Heritage, Cultural Memory and Belonging, Bemis Center, Omaha, NE, USA 
Right Is Right, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA 
2023   Unbridled Encounters, Walford Galleries, Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL, USA                     
Intimations, Sakhile&Me, Frankfurt, Germany 
Tapestry of Voices: The Poetic Dialogue Project, Christopher Art Gallery, Prairie State College, Chicago, IL, USA 
Earthly Visions: Inside the Climate Crisis, Gallery 400, The University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA 
Narrative Threads: Fiber Art Today, Moody Center for the Arts, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA 
Fragments & Fabrications, Bradbury Art Museum, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, AR, USA 
To Build What We Become When We Dream, Queens Square Gallery, Cambridge Art Galleries, Ontario, Canada 
2022   HerStory: Shaping History, Rele Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA 
Poetics of Material, Rele Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2021   Trauma, Triennale Brugge, Brugge, Belgium 
Ecological Co-Development, Chengdu Biennale, Chengdu, China 
Columned Hall Exhibition, Stoa169, Polling, Germany 
The Invincible Hands, Yemi Shyllon Museum of Art, Lagos, Nigeria 
Natural Materials, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA 
Podium II, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA 
2020     Atmospheres; Artists of the Transvangarde, October Gallery, London, UK
Prête-Moi Ton Rêve, Musée des Civilizations Noires, Dakar, Senegal
31: Women, Daimler Museum, Berlin, Germany
Second Careers: Tributaries in African Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, USA 
2019    Dream No Small Dream: Celebrating 40 Years of the Transvangarde, October Gallery, London, UK
 Fuel for Thought, Art Exchange, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
Dream No Small Dream: Celebrating 40 Years of the Transvangarde, October Gallery, London, UK 
Fuel for Thought, Art Exchange, University of Essex, Colchester, UK 
Art + Identity, Browngrotta Art Gallery, Wilton, CT, USA 
Transformed: Paper in Dimension, Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, NJ, USA 
2018    Dream No Small Dream: Celebrating 40 Years of the Transvangarde, October Gallery, London, UK
Abstract Minded: Works by Six Contemporary African Artists, August Wilson Center for African American Culture, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; N‘Namdi Center for Contemporary Art, Detroit, MI, USA 
2017   Abstract Minded: Works by Six Contemporary African Artists, N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art, Detroit, MI, USA 
Shelter: Crafting a Safe Home, Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, PA, USA 
The Enlighteners, Fondation Blachère Collection, Palais des Papes; Musée du Petit Palais; Musée Calvet and Musée Lapidaire, Avignon, France 
Beyond Surface, Fashion Outlets of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA 
When the Heavens Meet the Earth, The Heong Gallery, Cambridge, UK 
Weather or Not, That is the Question, Children’s Museum of the Arts, New York, USA 
2016   La Mère | La Mer, Moreau Art Galleries, St Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN, USA 
Standing Out, Temple Muse, Lagos, Nigeria Summertime…, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA 
Art Dubai, Dubai, UAE, with Sakshi Gallery, Dubai, UAE 
Expo Chicago, Navy Pier, Chicago, with Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA,  USA 
Finding Shelter: An Exhibition of Contemporary Fiber Art, Baum Gallery, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR, USA 
artMRKT San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA 
2015   Exceptional: Handmade Paper Beyond Substrate, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, MN, USA 
Works from Around Our State, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL, USA 
Africa Africans, Museu Afro Brasil, Sao Paulo, Brazil 
Faculty Art Show, Brendel Library, North Park University, Chicago, IL, USA 
2014   Interwoven Histories, October Gallery, London, UK
Brides of Anansi: Fiber and Contemporary Art, Spelman Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta, GA, USA 
African Origins, Morton Fine Art, Washington, D.C., USA 
Faculty Art Show, Brandel Library, North Park University, Chicago, IL, USA 
2013   Six Draughtsmen, Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA),   New York, USA 
Biennale internationale du lin de Portneuf, Quebec, Canada 
no one belongs here more than you, Center for Contemporary Art, Lagos, Nigeria 
Textura, Bekris Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA 
2012   Inside-Out, Outside-In, Visual Art Center Gallery, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS, USA 
We Face Forward, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, UK 
(Re-) Cycles of Paradise, LACE Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA, USA 
2011   Transcending Integration, Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, MD, USA 
Environment and Object: Recent African Art, Tang Teaching Museum, Skidmore College, New York; Anderson Gallery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA 
2010   As It Is: Contemporary Art from Africa & the Diaspora, The Mojo Gallery, Dubai, UAE 
Textiles, Fondation Blachère, Apt, France 
Scratch, Latit Kala Akademi, New Delhi; Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India 
Art Dubai, Dubai, UAE, with October Gallery, London, UK 
Joburg Art Fair, Johannesburg, South Africa, with October Gallery, London, UK  
(Re-) Cycles of Paradise, UNCOP16, UN Climate Change Conference, Spanish Cultural Center, Mexico City, Mexico 
29th Sao Paulo Biennial, Sao Paulo, Brazil 
2009   (Re-) Cycles of Paradise, UNCOP15, DGI-byen, Copenhagen, Denmark 
Common Ground, Bekris Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA 
In Progress, Carlson Tower Gallery, North Park University, Chicago, IL, USA 
Art Dubai, Dubai, UAE, with October Gallery, London, UK 
Joburg Art Fair, Johannesburg, South Africa, with October Gallery, London, UK 
Trash Menagerie, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA, USA 
Paper to Pulp, Howard County Center for the Arts, Ellicott City, MD, USA 
Transvangarde, October Gallery, London, UK 
Chance Encounters, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India 
Objects of A Revolution, Galerie Dominique Fiat, Paris, France 
Trace/Memory, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL, USA 
2008   Angaza Africa, October Gallery, London, UK 
Affrika West, Artspace, Galeri Caernarfon, Caernafon, Wales, UK 
Channel4 Art Exhibition, Channel4/ Art4 Gallery, London, UK 
Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary, Museum of Arts and Design, New York City, USA 
Refabrication, Carlson Tower Gallery, North Park University, Chicago, IL, USA 
Clay and Fiber, Woman Made Gallery (WMG), Chicago, USA Joburg Art Fair, Johannesburg, South Africa, with October Gallery, London, UK 
Trading Spaces, Binghamton University, New York, USA 
Moonlight Tales, Tall Grass Arts Association, Park Forest, IL, USA
2006   African Contemporary Art Exhibition, Dak’Art - Biennale de l’Art Africain Contemporain, Dakar, Senegal
2005   Twelfth SOFA International Exposition, The Navy Pier, Chicago, IL, USA 
Faculty Show, Carlson Tower Gallery, North Park University, Chicago, IL, USA 
8th International Open Exhibition, Woman Made Gallery (WMG), Chicago, IL, USA 
2003   Migrations, Legion Arts, CSPS Hall, Cedar Rapids, IA, USA  
Units, Legion Arts, CSPS Hall, Cedar Rapids, IA, USA 
2002    New Works, Armature Gallery, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA 
2001   New Energies, Nimbus Gallery; Mydrim Gallery, Lagos, Nigeria
1999   B.A. Exhibition, Ana Gallery, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
Public commissions 
2024   Together, We Belong Here, Illinois EPA Captial Development Board, IL, USA 
Selected awards
2023   Threewalls Community Art Grant, Chicago, USA  
2021   Creative Victoria Art Grant, Melbourne, Australia  
2020   Monash M Pavilion Art Grant, Melbourne, Australia  
2018   Individual Professional Development Grant, North Park University, Chicago, USA 2017       
Research and Development Lab Award, Threewalls, Chicago, USA 
2012   Fulbright Scholar
2011   Teaching Fellowship, Skidmore College, New York, USA
2008    North Park University Project Grant, Chicago, IL, USA
2007    UNESCO - Ashberg Fellowship for Artists, Gruber Jez Foundation, Mexico
2005   North Park University Project Grant, Chicago, IL, USA
2002   Graduate Assistantship, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
Emma McAllister Novel Scholarship, University of Iowa, Iowa City,,IA,USA Teaching Assistantship, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
1999   Valedictorian (Fine Arts), University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
1994   First prize, UNIFEM Women’s Art Contest, Lagos, Nigeria
1993   First prize, UNICEF African Child’s Day Art Contest, Mbabane, Swaziland
Selected collections
Art House Contemporary, Lagos, Nigeria;;
Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York, USA;
Channel 4, London, UK;
Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos, Nigeria;
Halls Winery, St. Helena, CA, USA;
Indianapolis Art Center, Indianapolis, IN, USA;
Jean Paul Blachère Foundation, Bonnieux, France;
Jorge M. Pérez Collection, Miami, FL, USA;
Krannert Museum of Art, University of Urbana, Champaign, IL, USA;
Kruizenga Art Museum, Hope College, Holland, MI, USA;
Kuona Trust, Nairobi, Kenya;
Mercedes Benz Art Collection, Stuttgart, Germany;
Newark Museum, Newark, NJ, USA;;
North Park University, Chicago, IL, USA;
Renaissance Capital, Moscow, Russia;
Royal Collection, Abu Dhabi, UAE;
Sina Jina Collection, London, UK;
Stanley Museum of Art, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA;
United States Embassy, Abuja, Nigeria;
World Bank, Washington, D.C., USA;

OCTOBER GALLERY ARTISTS