Rele, Lagos is pleased to present Good Evening, Good Evening Street, a solo exhibition by Tonia Nneji. Inspired by a visit to Goriola Street in Ajegunle, Lagos, the exhibition explores questions of freedom and the expectations society places on women.
Known by day for its bookshops and bustling commercial activity, the street takes on a different character after dark, when sex workers solicit clients. Drawn to what she describes as a “world of its own,” Nneji documents the street and the lives of the women there through her paintings. Her works consider how place and social expectations influence the ways women are seen and understood.
Making this body of work prompted Nneji to reconsider her own perceptions of women in communities such as Ajegunle and Mushin in Lagos State, Nigeria. This personal reflection informs the exhibition’s invitation to approach the women depicted with curiosity and to consider the assumptions that shape our understanding of their lives.
For its Lagos debut, the exhibition brings elements of the street into the gallery through an installation presented alongside the paintings. Together, the works and their setting offer a space for connection, reflecting Nneji’s hope that visitors might find a sense of being seen and understood.