Nifemi Marcus-Bello makes US debut with exhibition of bronze designs

Nifemi Marcus-Bello, the Lagos-based designer, has made his solo American debut with an inaugural exhibition at the gallery Marta in Los Angeles. Well-known for his ethnographic approach of elevating community through design, Marcus-Bello explores the ideas of identity, materiality and craft production through a new, ongoing series of work that he has named ‘Acts’. 

The first chapter, ‘Oríkì (Act I): Friction Ridge’, now on view at Marta’s new satellite space in Culver City, takes shape as a collection of sculptural benches made from polished bronze. It is named after the multigenerational tradition of praise poetry (oríkì) and spoken affirmation amongst the Yoruba people and Yoruba-speakers of West Africa, and is intentionally set against a soundscape featuring the voice of the designer’s mother, Folake, as she delivers Marcus-Bello’s personal oríkì.

The concept behind this exhibition was especially significant for Marcus-Bello. ‘This body of work is one that didn't come easy, but was extremely enjoyable from the start. I am hoping to pace myself, hence breaking down the output into “Acts”, making sure to be considerate to all aspects of the work: the research, the output and the presentation,’ he says. ‘For me, how it was shown was a lot more crucial than where, and after a great deal of conversation on scale and space, Marta went hunting for the right space to interact with the pieces.’

Marta’s co-founder Benjamin Critton echoes, ‘After multiple discussions about the presentation of the works, we felt it necessary to show all the pieces in a sufficiently generous space and one with ample natural light in order to literally and figuratively allow the works to shine.’ Critton and his partner, Heidi Korsavong found an appropriately unique space, ‘a real gem of a building, almost an architectural folly (in the praising sense of that word); it's a wonderfully idiosyncratic space, but one that is absolutely perfect for Nifemi's exhibition,’ he says. ‘With steel-framed windows on three sides of the space, the shifting patterns of light over the course of the day serve to activate the textural surfaces of the bronze, to the extent that the works occasionally feel like they are glowing from within.’

Marcus-Bello boldly presents a single form in multiples, which poetically and effectively emphasises the texture, physicality and production processes of each piece. The hands of the craftsmen who make the pieces possible are also celebrated in the legible imprints that have been retained on the works’ surfaces. This gesture also nods to the title of the works, ‘Friction Ridge’ – a reference to the physiology of the hand and an homage to the Surma people of Ethiopia, who paint using themselves and each other by repeatedly using finger imprints.

Marta Satellite, 3050 S La Cienega Boulevard, Culver City, CA, 90232 – 7333 USA

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