KEN NWADIOGBU, YELLOW IS THE NEW BLACK.
“Yellow Is The New Black” is the latest solo exhibition from Ken Nwadiogbu, a Nigerian-born, London-based multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans painting, sculpture, installation, and video.
The exhibition presents 13 artworks alongside a single installation, “Right Here, Right Now”, composed of 40 circular mirrors that create a sense of introspection and immersion across the space.
Nwadiogbu works from photographs that he has taken of his friends, family and other members of the Black immigrant community, rather than simply recreating the photographic image. However, Nwadiogbu zooms in on specific details or moments that are emotionally charged. He begins by burning paint onto the canvas, responding to the movement and emotion of colour, his psychological state and the rhythm of the music that he plays in the studio, before painting the figure and fragments of contextual information on top of this textured surface in heightened detail. The result is a series of haunting scenes that sit somewhere between stillness and movement, reality and dream.
The majority of these latest works are painted onto the back of Akwete cloth, a hand-woven textile produced in Igboland. The patterns on the work, which are specific to the Akwete village and used to mark different occasions or events, are left untouched so that Nwadiogbu’s mark-making enacts a visual dialogue, drawing a subtle connection between the experiences he is painting and the act of ritual or celebration.
A standout piece, “Love & Survival,” hangs from a curtain rail, its frayed edges evoking a flag or ceremonial garment. The scene is one of the most surreal in the exhibition: a small boy holds a spear in a fishing boat while above him two hands hover, joined by a piece of disintegrating string. It was made at a time when the artist was struggling with a romantic relationship due to his move away from Nigeria to London, in pursuit of furthering his career. Meanwhile, a circular canvas entitled “Ascension” depicts the artist in a moment of transcendence: climbing onto the roof of a building, with feathered wings sprouting from his back. It reflects on the sense of expansiveness – and precarity – he felt on returning to London, and the unknowns and possibilities that decision promised.
“Yellow Is The New Black” symbolises beauty within the experiences of the Black community. The title is a playful nod to the dominant colour running through the exhibition, as well as the vibrancy of Black experiences that Nwadiogbu captures; yellow being the brightest visible colour the human eye can perceive.
“For Nwadiogbu, the act of marking these moments, making them permanent on canvas, is above all a celebration: of his community, its creativity, strength and solidarity, and of his history and ancestors. In his words: “This work is a reminder, not just to Black people, but to everyone, that we are strong, beautiful, powerful; that our experiences matter and that we can all understand the world better through them.”
Thanks to Ken and Dami for inviting our team to the preview. We urge readers to experience the exhibition in person: [12 August – 6 September 2025, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London]
