UCHAY JOEL CHIMA

“When I do works that HAVE to do with relationships or human connections, I look for materials that I believe are synonymous with the notions of bonding: togetherness, intimacy, entanglement and oneness. These include strings, ropes and thread along with painting materials. I believe that the resonances of my preferred materials imply a need to re-evaluate and, more importantly, to strengthen our relationships with those around us, in the interest of supporting one another through current global difficulties. We are all very much attached to one another with invisible strings regardless of competing interests.”

Uchay Joel Chima is an internationally renowned artist living and working in Lagos, Nigeria. He graduated in 1997 from the Institute of Management and Technology in Enugu, Nigeria, and has exhibited in prominent galleries in Nigeria, South Africa, Canada, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Chima currently has studios in Lagos, Nigeria, and Houston, Texas.

SELECTED SOLO SHOWS:
2015 Revisions, Art at The Cube, Denver, Colorado, USA
2014 Evening with Uchay Joel Chima, Morris Plains, New Jersey, USA.
2014 String Theory, Museum Of African Culture, Portland, Maine,
2013 String Theory, LoneStar College Art Gallery, Houston, USA.
2012: Before the String Snapped, The Life House, Lagos, NIG.
2011 Bonding Strings, Goethe Institut, Lagos; Pan-African University, Ajah-Lagos, NIG
2010 Broken Shackles & Bonding Strings, Rietveld Academie, Amst, Netherlands.
2009 Much Strings Attached, ARC Gallery, London, UK.
2009 Burn Down The Earth, Palm Mall, Lagos, NIG.
2008 Figuratively Speaking, Goethe-Institut, Lagos, NIG.

SELECTED GROUP SHOWS:
2013 Blank Canvas, Art21 Gallery, Lagos, NIG.
2012 Moving Into Space, National Football Museum, Manchester, UK.
2011 Beyond Football, Goethe-Institut, Lagos, NIG.
2011 Beyond Football, Savvy Contemporary, Berlin, Germany.
2010 Here and Now, Morris Plains, New Jersey, USA.
2010 Africa Now, Bonhams Auction, New York, USA.

AWARDS:
1996 Award for Excellence, Academy Visual Arts Competition.
2009 Best Video Art Award, Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos, NIG.

RESIDENCIES:
2014 Art Residency, Spark Box Studio, Picton, Ontario, Canada.
2014 Art Residency, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont, USA.
2010 Art Residency, One Minute Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands.