Emmanuel Osahor
A Chair Outside

February 24 to March 26, 2022

Galerie Nicolas Robert is proud to present A Chair Outside, an exhibition of new works by Emmanuel Osahor. The paintings in A Chair Outside embody Osahor’s ongoing inquiry into beauty as an antidote for the realities of contemporary inequity. These dynamic and vibrant compositions express the sheer bounty of nature and celebrate the energy of our human connection to it. Expanding on his research into cultivated gardens as contested spaces for both refuge and violence, Osahor harnesses the power of paint to shift this conversation from subject to object and back again. Each work possesses a tension between the skillfully rendered illusion of movement and depth and the points at which the formal qualities of paint can serve to abruptly disrupt this illusion. Through acts of flattening and simplifying, the internal technical logic of the painting is exposed, so that negative space becomes positive, and underpainting is afforded the same privilege as its representational counterpart. Instead of having the effect of giving themselves away, this approach further deepens the mystery of these paintings, holding their secrets just beyond our grasp and formulating a unique expression of contemporary Romanticism. Despite their obvious generosity, the works in A chair outside serve as a reminder that the moments they capture do not belong to us. We are kept close enough to the garden to smell and feel the extent of its beauty, but at a distance just far enough to leave us perpetually yearning for more. 

Born in Nigeria, Emmanuel Osahor lives and works in Toronto (ON). He holds an MFA at the University of Guelph (2021) and a BFA in Art and Design from the University of Alberta (2015). His work has been presented in multiple solo and collective exhibitions, including at The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto, The Art Gallery of Alberta, SNAP gallery, The Works International Festival of Art and Design, The Art Gallery of Guelph and BAND Gallery. In 2014, Emmanuel Osahor was the provincial winner for the BMO 1st art Competition, representing the province of Alberta, in 2018 he received an honourable mention at the 20th RBC Painting competition, and in 2021 he received the Joseph Plaskett postgraduate award in painting. His work can be found in the collections of the Art Gallery of Ontario, Art Gallery of Guelph, Art Gallery of Alberta, Art Bank of Canada, RBC, and TD Bank.