Curated Rooms Of Art

Gerald Chukwuma’s art explores migration as a constant process of transformation. Working with his signature upcycled aluminum battered wood carvings and installations, he creates works that reflect the joys, struggles, and erosion of culture and language as it grinds in the mortar of globalization through richly illustrated depictions of stories, myths, and legends. He tells his story using the Uli and Nsibidi patterns in a refreshing way. Laden with personal and symbolic meanings, they speak to our human desire to communicate with one another and share stories about who we are, where we have come from, where we may be going, and most importantly, what we are saliently becoming.

Gerald’s audacious and inherently dramatic pieces explore creative opportunities locked in certain waste materials and the possibilities of creating narratives and emotional contents that allude to notions such as globalization, decay, movements, slavery, culture and history. The entire demeanor of his art, which he has exhibited widely in many parts of the world including Nigeria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Turkey, the Netherlands, South Africa, and Berlin, is majestically severe, forceful, unrelenting, colorful, abrasive, playful, and even imposing. In 2008 and 2011, Gerald emerged as one of the top three winners in the reputable national art competition. His art was featured in CNN’s Inside Africa in 2011 and The New York Times art review in 2019. His works are in collections such as the University of Nigeria, Nsukka; Beth Rudin de Woody, USA; the Hague, Netherlands; Eston capital/John Friedman collection; Pan African University, Lagos; Seth dei collection, Accra; the World Bank collection, Washington DC; and Yemisi Shyllon Museum, Lagos. Born in Nigeria in 1973, he cultivated his aesthetic at the university of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he earned his art degree, summa cum laude.