Future Assembly, a new, London-based development platform for emerging artists from Africa and its Diaspora that foregrounds experimentation and peer to peer learning, announces its first Exhibition and Public Programme with works by Lagos-based photographer Logo Oluwamuyiwa.

Conceived and developed by curator Hansi Momodu-Gordon and supported by Arts Council England, Future Assembly supports an artist at a critical moment in their career by allowing space to test ideas and learn new skills through interaction, discourse and showcasing. The first Future Assembly residency programme runs throughout April-May 2016 and the inaugural artist, selected in partnership with the African Artists’ Foundation is Lagos-based photographer Logo Oluwamuyiwa.

Opening at Deptford gallery, News of the World on 29 April 2016 Oluwamuyiwa’s exhibition It’s Also a Solo Journey draws on his on going body of work Monochrome Lagos (2013-), an extensive archive of arresting images of urban life in one of the world’s most populated cities. Oluwamuyiwa’s photography strips Lagos of its most recognisable features, as he seeks to uncover what lies beyond the initial dazzle of its intense colour palette and the hum of its unrelenting noise. Monochrome Lagos today constitutes an expansive digital archive of black and white images that Oluwamuyiwa disseminates through Tumblr and Instagram to audiences across the globe.

As a physical manifestation of the archive, this exhibition of selected works focuses in on a central theme in the Monochrome Lagos series as it asks us to pause for a moment and consider that life in a mega-city, amongst the bustling crowd – is also a solo journey.

Conceived as an ongoing study rather that a definitive statement, Oluwamuyiwa takes photo-walks across his city in search of the nuances and narratives of Lagos. Recurrent motifs within Monochrome Lagos include theatrical arrangements of outdoor commerce, the human form in juxtaposition with background surface and the play of light and shadow under the city’s harsh, bright sun; the artist says, “it is the most torturous natural element that the resident will have to battle as he or she goes about life outdoors.”

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Exhibition on view 29 April to 22 May 2016
Private view 29 April 18.30-20.30

News of the world, 50 Resolution Way, Deptford, London, SE8 4NT
Exhibition on view from 29 April to 22 May 2016
Opening hours: Friday-Sunday 12-7pm

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Wednesday 4 May 2016, 19.00 – 20.30

Conversation: Logo Oluwamuyiwa in conversation with Shoair Mavlian (Assistant Curator – Tate Modern)

Logo Oluwamuyiwa will be in conversation with curator Shoair Mavlian at Autograph ABP discussing his own journey as an emerging photographer, his influences and inspirations and sharing images from his archive. Shoair Mavlian is a curator at Tate Modern, London who focuses primarily on photography. Shoair researches acquisitions for the international collection whilst curating exhibitions and displays across Tate Modern. She co-curated the major exhibition Conflict, Time, Photography (Tate Modern, London, 2014) and the collaborative exhibition Project Space: A Chronicle of Interventions (Tate Modern, London and TEOR/éTica, Costa Rica, 2014). Shoair has also worked on many of the photography displays of the permanent collection across Tate Modern. Her independent writing is regularly published in journals and magazines and recent independent curatorial projects include the exhibition In flux (Kanellopoulos Cultural Centre, Greece, 2015).

Future Assembly in association with Autograph ABP
Rivington Pl.
EC2A 3BA

£3 + booking fee. Limited seating please book your place.

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Tuesday 10 May 2016, 18.00 – 20.00

Discussion: Artists’ Platforms, Diaspora and Transnational Exchange in the Digital Age: A Conversation

Transnational exchange and dialogue is at the heart of Future Assembly and the salon event Artists’ Platforms, Diaspora and Transnational Exchange in the Digital Age: A Conversation, on the 10 May, organised in conjunction with the University of the Arts Research Centre for Transnational Art, Identity and Nation (TrAIN) will see London-based artists Junior Boakye-Yiadom and Isaac Kariuki, join Logo Oluwamuyiwa to debate how real world and online artist platforms and networks are facilitating transnational exchange and how the relationships between Africa-based and Diaspora artists and audiences is shifting in the globalised art world. Chaired by Professor Paul Godwin, the session reflects Future Assembly’s ambition facilitate dialogue and create multiple layers of exchange and connection.

Future Assembly in association with TrAIN
University of the Arts, London
Green Room, Chelsea College of Arts, 16 John Islip St,
SW1P 4JU

Free. Spaces are limited so please reserve your pace.

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www.futureassembly.co.uk