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Rele Lagos proudly presents “How to Hold a Moonbeam; How Do You Hold Memory?” the second solo exhibition by IyunOla Sanyaolu. Sanyaolu’s practice is primarily informed by an exploration of texture and sculptural possibilities. As an abstract artist, she aligns her aesthetic with the broader canon of the impasto tradition. Working with layers of thickly applied paint, her work often explores the emotive qualities of color while capturing obscure silhouettes of human experiences.

Her second solo exhibition and first in Lagos, Nigeria - “How to Hold a Moonbeam; How Do you Hold Memory?” represents a natural progression on themes of human decisions, solitary reflections, and transient experiences which characterized her debut exhibition. In this new series, Sanyaolu’s deeper embrace of the obscure enriches the layering and fading of memory, inviting us to reflect on the accuracy of our recollections.

Rele Los Angeles is pleased to announce Culture Diaries, a group exhibition that looks at African-American identity within a contemporary and historical context. Bringing into focus the plurality and complexity of what it means to be both Afro-descendent and American, guest curator Dominique Clayton draws in artists of varied cultural, social, economic and linguistic backgrounds, including those multi-generationally American and those decidedly so. 

Rele Los Angeles is pleased to announce Woven Sanctuaries, a group exhibition bringing together the work of seven female artists from Botswana, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Zambia, which together document complex personal and social landscapes that textiles make possible. Utilizing found materials as well as symbolically-laden fabrics such as cloth and jute, these artists collapse conventions of space and time in order to explore grief, loss, joy, wonder, personal agency and coming of age.

 In this exhibition, materials are the message. Cloth is sacred in many African societies – it is woven in the home, primarily by women, based on traditions that have been passed down over generations. Its domestic connotations provide it a texture and intimacy that other art practices lack. 

Rele, Lagos is pleased to present Beyond Veils a group exhibition presenting works from Progress Nyandoro (Zimbabwe), Sedireng Mothibatsela (Botswana), Tizta Berhanu (Ethiopia) and Diana Ejaita (Nigeria/Italy).

Beyond Veils is an examination of existence through an engagement with inner landscapes of the body, mind and the otherworldly. From the surreal to the spiritual, works in this exhibition transcends the corporeality of the body in engaging with the intimate, often changing and highly contested world of the interior narrating real-life experiences like intimacy, mutual relation, agency and the experience of knowledge.

Dear Sim, 

It rains in my dreams. Every time I close my eyes, I see rain. Big fat glistening silver droplets. 

Do you remember when we asked our good witch how the clouds become rain? She said the clouds were wings of children that have never visited earth. She said when the children wash their dirty wings, it rains on us. But we didn't believe her; there is no dirt in the sky!

SIM! She is not entirely wrong. Last night I dreamed of rain yet again. Wind swept me up sky high. And I saw it for myself. There are many types of clouds. There are special clouds that are floating babies sleeping in nests like smoke. 

Orunmenitomala took me from Wind and walked me through Orun. Sim, the nests look like smoke but they are really music, strings of music tightly woven together. The music keeps the babies asleep. Orunmenitomala did not speak but I understood all. Orun's words are in the music. 

The Rele Arts Foundation is pleased to present the 9th edition of the Young Contemporaries programme. Initiated in 2016, the programme identifies, mentors and promotes early-career artists from Africa, by equipping them with tools and resources for artistic development.

Each year, the Foundation guides artists via its boot camp and residency programme in Ado-Ekiti towards the creation of critical projects, encouraging innovative explorations of existing inquiries as well as the birth of fresh ideas. This year, the artists received guidance under the mentorship of Dr. Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi (Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture at MOMA, NewYork).