STAND D05
For its debut presentation at VOLTA Basel, Wunika Mukan Gallery presents new and recent works by Nkechi Ebubedike and Erin LeAnn Mitchell. The gallery’s booth at the 2024 edition of the fair will showcase a captivating selection of mixed media and collage works. Diverse in subject matter and approach, Ebubedike and Mitchell's works delve into themes deeply rooted in culture and identity, celebrating the powerful narratives of Black expression and the richness and resilience of the artists’ heritage. As women artists, their presentation also highlights the strength and creativity of female voices within the contemporary art world.
Nkechi Ebubedike (b. 1984) works across painting, sculpture, photography and installation, in order to experiment with the distortion and suspension of meaningful, culturally significant images. She draws upon art historical references and personal encounters in her creations which serve as a lens through which she delves into themes related to assigned societal roles, the complexities of the mundane conditions, and individual personal histories. In her work, she chooses to maintain a deliberate and occasionally whimsical connection between the explored themes and the employed techniques. While painting remains a constant and dominant element, it coexists intuitively with the spaces it inhabits. These spaces become both her working material and a tool, serving as a canvas underlined by layers and recurring motifs and symbols. These distinctive symbols, such as dense and weighty figures, blurred horizons, and flowers, hold significant meaning. Flowers, in particular, symbolize themes of femininity, nostalgia, and sentiment. Through layering and repeating her symbols, Nkechi’s visual language invites viewers to delve into the multifaceted narratives within her work.
For the fair, she debuts a small group of paintings produced during her first artist residency at KinoSaito Arts Center in Lower Hudson, NY. Inspired by the natural surroundings and minimalist interior with raw materials, the paintings build on a variety of reductive architectural forms and compositions that she has been exploring in recent years. Each piece contemplates the rigidity of our interior “constructs”, the ways we try to sculpt ourselves or edit ourselves. Abstracted figures are realized in plexiglass and then integrated into wooden structures and tasked with holding the paintings together, sometimes perilously balancing the composition. Linen canvas is left raw in certain areas and make bold interjections or are in conversation with raw wood paneling. There is nothing to hide and we must embrace (our) nature.
Erin LeAnn Mitchell (b. 1988) known for her compelling exploration of Black futures, will present new quilts made specially for the fair. Drawing inspiration from the works of Faith Ringgold and Kerry James Marshall, her works are a mixture of textiles, painting and collage. She is inspired by narratives of southern Blackness and afrofuturism. She continues her ongoing narrative where she envisions Black people into a space and time that enable them leave authentically free. She finds solace in her southern matriarchal family and feature Black women who serve as more than sapphire caricatures.
Her practice set the pace and are the movement that carries us forward. Their feet hold the knowledge of the Gullah Geechee and tales of the Clotilda. She finds inspiration in the stitches of Gee ’ s Bend quilting. Their artistry forged a path she traverses in creating works that give voice, expression, and endurance to Black life. As a continuum of those who came before and those who will come after, she delivers messages of a brighter future in the Black experience.
VOLTA Basel 2024
June 10–16, 2024
Klybeck 610, Gärtnerstrasse 2, 4057 Basel, Switzerland Stand D05
