Chibuike Uzoma at Simon Lee | London

The opening dedication in Chibuike Uzoma’s e book To Kick A Stone, printed on the event of his solo exhibition of the identical identify, reads merely, “To Grace, my beloved mom.” Grace is thus the supposed viewer for this present, which is apt contemplating that every one the works share the identical title: Mom, Mom…, Occasions Have Modified (all works 2022.) Grounded within the ideas of Roland Barthes’ 1967 essay The Dying of The Creator, Nigerian-born Uzoma spurns the logic {that a} murals must be critiqued primarily or solely in accordance with the artist’s intent and positionality. I think about that for a Black painter, that is particularly intentional, liberating even. As a substitute, the viewers is tasked to return to their very own conclusions concerning the works with little immediate or clues.

Ten medium-sized canvases of oil and acrylic are assembled on the bottom flooring gallery. Not clearly representational, they’re pictorial and so require tremendous consideration. Uzoma’s main shade decisions are aquatic blues, greens, and a fascinating sundown orange. If you happen to stand again far sufficient, you may make out the blurred profile of a human face. Swaths of black and white on both aspect of the canvas give respiratory room for the floating head, neon cylinders, and fixed-width stenciled letters repeated in each work. Taking part in on loop is a soundtrack by the artist’s collaborator, Joāo Orecchia, in addition to Edward Owens’s 1967 movie, A Portrait Examine. These are good accents, however not essential. Uzoma succeeds in making a sure temper with simply his compositions: pleasing, however not riveting. The true kick is, I’m desperate to see extra.

— Rianna Jade Parker