Nnenna Okore Australian-Nigerian, b. 1975

SMO is proud to present Our Story II, an exhibition of artworks selected from the Wheatbaker hotel’s permanent collection. Our Story II celebrates highlights of SMO’s curatorial journey over the...

Nigeria’s premiere luxury boutique hotel, The Wheatbaker, is at the forefront of contemporary Nigerian art with their robust and innovative art exhibitions all year round since it opened it's doors in 2011. It is with great pleasure and pride that The Wheatbaker presents its private art collection to the public.

Standing Out showcases the art of eleven leading and emerging female artists whose work reflects a multitude of issues surrounding feminism and equality, through a variety of media including painting, photography, print, sculpture, clay, glass, weaving, mixed media and performance. What echoes through all the works is energy, resilience, interconnections and overlapping memories and identities, with rich visual metaphors of breaking boundaries across psychological, physical and emotional landscapes.

The Contemporaries, a stunning exhibition of paintings, sculptures, drawings, and mixed media works is a timely reflection of current trends in Nigeria and makes stirring and sometimes, tongue-in-cheek, comments about a nation expectant of change. It

Nnenna Okore, who returns to her native Nigeria from the United Sates, is one of the foremost artists of her generation. She is celebrated internationally for her largely abstract works, which are inspired by textures, colors and landscapes, created mostly from discarded materials in her environment. Okore relies on the use of flotsam or discarded objects, which are transformed into intricate sculptures and installations through repetitive and labor-intensive techniques.