you are so loved and lovely

ruby onyinyechi amanze and Wura-Natasha Ogunji

September 8 – October 12, 2019

twin

ruby onyinyechi amanze and Wura-Natasha Ogunji

twin

ruby onyinyechi amanze and Wura-Natasha Ogunji

1/5

Fridman Gallery is honored to present you are so loved and lovely, an exhibition of works in dialog by ruby onyinyechi amanze and Wura-Natasha Ogunji. The exhibition features new large-scale drawings and paintings, and a selection of small works created early in the artists' careers. The artists will give a talk and performance, Pas de Deux, on September 8 at 4pm.

Since meeting in 2012 in Nigeria, amanze and Ogunji have engaged in an ongoing artistic exchange of writings, performances, conversations and shows in shared spaces. In addition to artworks, you are so loved and lovely includes excerpts from Drawing Memoir, a collection of written correspondences that chronicle the questions, quandaries, experiments and discoveries made in the artists’ studios and beyond.

The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated catalog with an essay by Emmanuel Iduma.

ruby onyinyechi amanze creates drawings on paper. Using a non-linear narrative, she explores architecture, dance (such as the movement language of Gaga), play, and design.

amanze has exhibited at The Jewish Museum, Queens Museum, Smack Mellon, The Drawing Center, Studio Museum in Harlem, and CCA Lagos. She earned a B.F.A. from Tyler School of Art and an M.F.A. from Cranbrook Academy of Art. In 2012-13, amanze was the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship in Drawing to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Born in Port-Harcourt, amanze lives and works between New York and Philadelphia.

Wura-Natasha Ogunji works in drawing, video and performance. Her hand-stitched drawings on architectural tracing paper are inspired by daily interactions in Lagos, Nigeria. Her performances explore the presence of women in public spaces, labor, leisure, freedom and frivolity.

Ogunji received a Guggenheim Fellowship, co-curated the 2018 São Paulo Biennial, and exhibited at Palais de Tokyo, the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Brooklyn Museum, Seattle Art Museum, CCA Lagos, and The Menil Collection. She holds a B.A. in anthropology from Stanford University and an M.F.A. from San Jose State University.

Born in St. Louis, Ogunji lives and works in Lagos.

Opening performance

September 8, 2019