Lagos' Newest Art Space Debuts with a Psychological Journey Through Mixed Media
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A new chapter in Lagos' contemporary art landscape begins with MOVING PIECES, the debut exhibition at Nuru Gallery. Opening November 8th through December 27th, the show marks both the gallery's launch and a deeper creative evolution for artist Upson, whose work has become synonymous with the city's pop-culture zeitgeist.
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Founded by 25-year-old creative director Khadijah Okoya, Nuru Gallery positions itself as "a space for layered African expression", a mission statement that feels less more like a manifesto when you step into the seafoam-green floored space on the fifth floor of Eleganza House. The gallery's concrete ceiling and textured walls create what Okoya describes as an atmosphere of "floating between sky and structure," a deliberately childlike yet sophisticated environment that serves as the perfect canvas for Upson's world-building.
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The exhibition unfolds across five mixed media works: Pinterest, District of Financials, Wheels Are in Motion, Kaos at the Opera, and Graduation, each functioning as a chapter in what feels like a three-dimensional artist's monologue. This is Upson inviting us into his creative process, from the chaotic spark of initial inspiration to the final, deliberate brushstroke.
Pinterest, the exhibition's opening salvo, nods to the contemporary artist's digital reference library. Its brawling, energetic characters capture that pre-form moment when ideas still exist in beautiful chaos. District of Financials introduces something more narrative: an imagined Lagos ruled by two omniscient women, populated by characters driven by ambition and self-determination. The journey culminates in Graduation: both symbolic ascension and celebration of the artist's next creative threshold.
Upson's influences are worn openly: Yayoi Kusama's obsessive patterning, the tender monstrosity of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, the heartfelt creatures of Pixar's Monsters Inc. But what emerges through his evolving sketches, pastel chalks, and layered textures is entirely his own, a psychological landscape where wild things roam, monsters possess hearts, and fear collides gracefully with wonder.
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For those who've followed Lagos' creative scene, Upson needs little introduction. His long-running collaboration with musician Cruel Santino has produced some of the city's most distinctive visual work, including the first Flowers of the 1st Orchard manga and the complete visual identity for Subaru Boys: FINAL HEAVEN. Having explored digital art, illustration, graffiti, and painting, his practice remains driven by experimentation and hunger for new visual territories.
This exhibition, however, marks a turn inward, toward what the gallery describes as "deeper psychological terrain." Upson emerges as a defining voice within Lagos' current generation of artists exploring mixed media, anime aesthetics, gaming culture, and immersive world-building with equal parts whimsy and depth.
The exhibition also introduces Temitope El Shabbazz's V1 Bench, a sculptural seating piece that grounds the show with monolithic presence. Built from meticulously sanded layered wood components, the bench embodies what El Shabbazz calls his "desire for play"—an object that manages to be both timeless and tender, elegant and permanent.
This collaboration between Nuru's in-house design arm Nuruhai, Upson, and Temitope creates what Okoya describes as "the kind of easy, instinctive rapport found in two childhood friends finishing each other's sentences—seamless and gently mischievous." It signals the gallery's broader ambition: to bridge creative direction, curation, and storytelling in ways that feel globally attuned yet distinctly local.
Created for younger, culturally attentive audiences ready to collect and preserve memory, MOVING PIECES positions Nuru Gallery as an intimate site for slow-looking, emotional resonance, and playful depth. In a city whose art scene continues to evolve at breakneck speed, this feels like a deliberate invitation to pause, look closer, and linger in the spaces between thought and form.
MOVING PIECES by Upson
November 8 – December 27, 2025
Nuru Gallery
5th Floor, Eleganza House
15B Joseph Harden, Lagos Island
Website: nuru-gallery.com
Instagram: @nuru.gallery
For press inquiries and private viewings, contact Nuru Gallery directly through their website or social media.
