(Houston, TX.) Mitochondria Gallery specializes in artworks from emerging and established artists from Africa and the African diaspora, with a mission to educate, and expand the public awareness of contemporary art from Africa. We present a solo exhibition titled, “Legacy.” This exhibition features ten works from Nigerian artist, Awodiya Toluwani. The exhibition features paintings of women from the Victorian Era. The exhibition was curated by Mitochondria Gallery. 

“Legacy,” links the past, present, and future through artistic expression. The visuals of this exhibition depict black women in the Victorian Era, a time period where images of black women are often overlooked and excluded in documented history. The exhibition celebrates black women for their intelligence, essence, beauty, and much more through artistic expression. 

Awodiya Toluwani portrays these figures of our past using figurative expressionism paintings, which are built on the plethora of layered motifs he creates on canvas. These motifs are comprised of syllabograms, pictograms, and logograms, some of which are of historical significance that were used in communication within groups of West African cultures. Some of these motifs were created by Toluwani as he has placed his own meanings to these motifs to communicate with the viewers of his works. 

The works selected for this exhibition are portraits and figurative paintings. Captured intricately in these works are the subjects of these paintings interacting or reacting to their environment. Portrayal of the subjects’ moods, expressions, and gestures, produce an intimate sensation for the viewer to feel the temperature of the time capsule the paintings depict. 

This show is honoring the legacies of those who came before us as we presently build our legacies for those to follow. We take the lessons of our past, apply them to the present, because one day we will be the ancestors. Our stories today will one day be, the stories of the past. 

Legacy Opens October 15, 2021, 2101 Winter Street, Houston, TX 77007, 5:00pm.

The virtual exhibition will be available to the public on our website.

For more information please contact:
Timi Etebu
Principal | Mitochondria Gallery
info@mitochondriagallery.com
+1 832 271 0193