1:54 LONDON
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily life is but a dream, 2020, oil on canvas, 6.5 feet x 6.5 feet
In 2020 The Dada Gallery presented a new body of work by Emeka Maduka entitled St. Agnes at 1:54 Art Fair. The fair took place in Somerset House London.
Installation Shots: The Dada Gallery Booth. Somerset House London
In a new partnership between 1:54 and Christie’s Auction House, one of Maduka’s works showed at the Auction House. The inspiration for this work was numerous single-sex Catholic boarding schools in various parts of Nigeria.
The Yearbook Series, 2020, oil on birchwood, 15” diameters: Left: Biodun-before-oda bad guys, SS3B
Middle: Aisha-no nonsense, SS3C Right: Agatha, SS3A
Maduka attended one of the oldest boarding schools in the county for three years. She completed another three years at the Institution’s sister school in Abuja, Nigeria. Over time, these schools, remnants of the country’s colonial past, morphed into its language–a fusion of contemporary cultural practice mingling with shadows of an acquired religion and embedded way of life. In an exclusive femme environment, Maduka explored moments of intimacy, love, sharing, vulnerability, and playfulness amid pain, structure, tradition and unremitting rules. The balance between play and order or playing in order.
Chaos turns placid before the bells ring, 2020, oil on canvas, 3ftx4ft
Win Some, Lose Some, 2020, oil on canvas, 5ftx5ft
Day 65 to Visiting Day, 2020, oil on canvas, 2ftx3ft