London, UK – Saatchi Gallery, M&C Saatchi Group and Tiwani Contemporary are pleased to present a solo exhibition of works by emerging Nigerian artist Samuel Nnorom, inaugural winner of the M&C Saatchi Group Art for Change Prize in 2022. Featuring new works that have not yet been exhibited in the UK, MULTITUDE OR MINORITY will be open at Saatchi Gallery from 19 October to 24 November, 2024.
Nnorom’s sculptures are visual metaphors made from offcuts of Ankara fabric, the wax-printed cloth now synonymous with African textiles. Fabrics to him evoke a sense of social structure or organisation that interlaces humanity into society. However, when referring to the “fabric of society” or “social fabric,” it refers to the weft and warp interlace of values, traditions, behaviours, identities, religions, and heritage of the human society. This is unique to different societies, as he contemplates on universal identity, socio-political structures, consumerism, industrialisation, and colonial remnants. Nnorom’s use of the salvaged fabric forms a critical observation around artisanal provenance, and the impact of global trade on unified geographical identity.
The forms within his work are inspired by bubbles: entities that emerge, momentarily capturing air until they burst and disappear. He is interested in the expansion and movement of bubble formations and how their characteristics might speak to moments of suspension, tension and adaptation. He works industriously to weave, roll, assemble, stich and sew together constellations of bubbles, bindles, and ribboned strips, reinterpreting the bubble as a tangible manifestation of collective survival, connection, and aspiration.
This exhibition is kindly supported by Tiwani Contemporary and M&C Saatchi Group.