May 1

May 1 Modupeola Fadugba: Of Movement, Materials and Methods

Art, Creative People, Culture, Interviews

When Modupeola Fadugba says, “I call myself a multidisciplinary artist, though I have a particular penchant for drawing, colorfully,” she isn’t simply describing a preference for media—she’s summing up an entire philosophy. Her art is an intricate dance between color and concept, vulnerability and vision. And now, London has the distinct honor of welcoming her new solo exhibition, Of Movement, Materials and Methods, opening May 22 at Gallery 1957 as part of London Gallery Weekend 2025.

Inspired by the pageantry of the Ojude Oba festival, Fadugba’s latest body of work marks a dramatic shift—from her signature themes of water and solitude to a new exploration of land, ritual, and communal identity. “Ojude Oba is gesture, is choreography, is memory,” Fadugba explains. “It’s a living archive of Yoruba pride and continuity. I was drawn to its elegance and its assertion of who we are.”

With gold leaf, layered textures, and a blazing palette that mirrors the festival’s vibrance, Fadugba paints the rhythm of riders, the shimmer of beaded regalia, the thunder of drumming feet. “The aesthetics of orientation and alignment, or their absence—echo the musings of my mind,” she says, referencing the tension she sees between Nigeria’s past and future.

Many of Fadugba’s earlier works centered on water—particularly swimming as a metaphor for survival, memory and identity. Growing up by the sea in Lomé, Togo, water first evoked fear. “The idea that this endless expanse of water could take you to an unknown place overwhelmed me,” she recalls. Later, she came to see contained water—like swimming pools—as symbols of aspiration and belonging. “Within that specific context, I saw that (contained) bodies of water could be emblematic of the American dream.” Her acclaimed Synchronized Swimmers series became a powerful metaphor for Black excellence, community, and discipline. Now, with Of Movement, Materials and Methods, she transitions from water to land, but the current of introspection runs just as deep.

In this new solo exhibition, beading becomes central not just aesthetically, but politically. Collaborating with local artisans, Fadugba weaves together traditional techniques with modern narratives. “Beading, for me, is a way to touch the past,” she says. “It’s a language of hands. It carries the weight of women’s work, of trade, of inheritance.” Her practice resonates with what she calls “patriotic worrying,” a term borrowed from Ai Weiwei. “Much of my work revolves around Nigeria—what it was, what it could be. I think of Chinua Achebe’s falling apart of structures. And I wonder: do we return to ancestral culture, or do we borrow wisdom from other nations?”

Of Movement, Materials and Methods will ask the viewer to engage not just with color and craft, but with identity, tradition, and nationhood in flux. For a city shaped by its post-colonial diaspora, Fadugba’s work speaks directly to questions of belonging, history, and cultural navigation. This is art that doesn’t just hang—it pulses, it sings, it asks. “Through intricate detailing and layered surfaces, my hope is to capture the rhythm of drumming, the choreography of the riders, and the brilliance of the attire,” Fadugba says. “I want viewers to feel the movement—of bodies, of histories, of time.”

Of Movement, Materials and Methods runs from May 22 to June 29 at Gallery 1957 in London. For anyone interested in contemporary African art, in stories told with grace and fire, in work that reaches across borders and generations—this is the show of the season.