Subtle Textures showing at Rele Art Gallery

After seven years of operating at the Onikan, Lagos, Rele Gallery has moved to a bigger and more serene space on Thompson Avenue, Ikoyi, where a group show, titled, Subtle Textures, is going on.

The inaugural show, which features works of Osi Audu, Annick Kamgang, Sedireng Mothibatsela, Kelani Abass, Papa Omotayo and Temitayo Ogunbiyi, explores the generative qualities of drawing and line in creating composite forms and spheres of knowledge.

The gallery’s new space also serves as a blank canvas for the playing out of future possibilities; the fluidity of drawing and its capacity for transformation forms an essential starting point.

The gallery curator, Adeolu Oluwajoba, said, “while we were thinking about the space opening, we wanted to do an exhibition that also spoke to this idea of moving to a new space and creating something new so we decide to explore drawing as a representation. We want people to see the gallery as just this blank canvass in which multiple realities and landscapes can be created from. Just working with sub-textures and seeing the generative quality of drawing and how it relates to the generative quality of space.”

He continued, “Abbas Kelani has five works, Temitayo Ogunbiyi has four and we are aslo showing the blue print, that’s the architectural work, just to give this idea of how drawing can be used to create space, we are basically looking to get more engagements from people, very interesting works from Nigerian artists and African artists generally. We want to create a space where people can come and have immersive and awesome experience.”

The gallery founder, Adenrele Sonariwo, said moving into a new space is reflective of the gallery’s growth.

According to her, “we wanted a much bigger place so that artists will have opportunity to explore bigger space, which helps their works as well, to see how they can respond to this new space, and we are also growing, its seven years.”

Sonariwo continued, “The artists have curated Subtle Texture to tie into the fact that we are in a new space, new beginning. We represent about 11 artists on our roaster and 10 of them their works are on display. We want to showcase the artists that have gotten us to this point, some of them work with fabrics, photographs, painters, sculpting, we want to be able to show a full range of all the artist that we are working together that this space will not be possible without them.”