Jamiu Agboke at Sea View

If The Ground Could Speak is the debut solo exhibition in the United States of London-based Nigerian artist Jamiu Agboke (b. 1989). Agboke’s atmospheric paintings of varying sizes are described as a “conservation with nature without words.” Adorning the walls of Sea View, a contemporary art gallery located in a house in the Mount Washington neighborhood, Agboke’s paintings depict an unidentifiable countryside. Up close, the landscapes are heavily abstracted, leaving only glimmers of smoky skies, rainfall, and lush banks.

Agboke’s series reveals a strong preoccupation with materiality and a desire to make the presence of the artist’s hand known. The paintings present hard and soft marks like curves, brush bristles, and streaks of paint. The base of gessoed canvas, copper, and aluminum, are revealed through a process of carving down layers of paint. This unique practice results in brilliant, illuminated canvases that are only revealed in the natural light of the gallery space.

Photo: Jamiu Agboke, Installation view of If the Ground Could Speak at Sea View, Los Angeles, 2024. Courtesy of the Artist, VIN VIN Vienna / Naples, and Sea View, Los Angeles. Photographer credit: Nice Day Photo.