James Cohan Gallery
Skip to main content
  • Menu
  • Home
Menu

Artworks

EMEKA OGBOH, Spirit and Matter, 2017-2018
EMEKA OGBOH, Spirit and Matter, 2017-2018
EMEKA OGBOH, Spirit and Matter, 2017-2018
EMEKA OGBOH, Spirit and Matter, 2017-2018
EMEKA OGBOH, Spirit and Matter, 2017-2018
EMEKA OGBOH, Spirit and Matter, 2017-2018
EMEKA OGBOH, Spirit and Matter, 2017-2018
EMEKA OGBOH, Spirit and Matter, 2017-2018

Spirit and Matter, 2017-2018

Light and sound installation composed of three photographs printed on stained-glass and mounted on lightboxes, audio
Overall: 60 1/4 x 103 3/8 in (153 x 262.6 cm)
Left and right panels: 60 1/4 x 31 1/4 in (153 x 79.4 cm)
Center panel: 60 1/4 x 37 1/4 in (153 x 94.6 cm)
Duration: 10 min 34 sec
Edition of 1 plus 1 artist's proof
€ 120,000.00

Further images

  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 1 ) EMEKA OGBOH, Spirit and Matter, 2017-2018
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 2 ) EMEKA OGBOH, Spirit and Matter, 2017-2018
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 3 ) EMEKA OGBOH, Spirit and Matter, 2017-2018
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 4 ) EMEKA OGBOH, Spirit and Matter, 2017-2018
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 5 ) EMEKA OGBOH, Spirit and Matter, 2017-2018
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 6 ) EMEKA OGBOH, Spirit and Matter, 2017-2018
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 7 ) EMEKA OGBOH, Spirit and Matter, 2017-2018
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 8 ) EMEKA OGBOH, Spirit and Matter, 2017-2018
Spirit and Matter is a triptych of light boxes printed with photographs to mimic stained glass. The piece incorporates a soundtrack of frantic Lagos, complete with the echoing voices of...
Read more
Spirit and Matter is a triptych of light boxes printed with photographs to mimic stained glass. The piece incorporates a soundtrack of frantic Lagos, complete with the echoing voices of bus drivers calling out routes to their passengers. The work takes as a starting point a photograph of the under-bridge area of Ojuelegba in Lagos, Nigeria. An extremely busy bus terminal, Ojuelegba is a point of convergence and passage for the West African coast. It also used to be the site of a shrine for the Yoruba deity Eshu, who is understood as a benevolent emissary between heaven and earth. The photograph printed onto the light boxes is manipulated to look like a prism in yellow tones, emphasizing the lens through which the artist (or the viewer) perceives the city, and his position in Lagos, Berlin, or elsewhere. Ogboh mixes the spiritual and religious Yoruba undertones with that of Christian Europe, resulting in a piece resembling the colorful windows found in churches across the West. The artist distinguishes between the physical and spiritual, but also between his own physical wandering in the world and his mental imaginings, which transport him back home to the Nigerian megalopolis.
Close full details

Exhibitions

Multiple Transmissions: Art in the Afropolitan Age, WIELS, Brussels, May 5–August 18, 2019
No Condition is Permanent, Imane Fares, Paris, September 13–November 24, 2018
Inquiry
%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3ESpirit%20and%20Matter%3C/span%3E%2C%20%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2017-2018%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3ELight%20and%20sound%20installation%20composed%20of%20three%20photographs%20printed%20on%20stained-glass%20and%20mounted%20on%20lightboxes%2C%20audio%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3EOverall%3A%2060%201/4%20x%20103%203/8%20in%20%28153%20x%20262.6%20cm%29%3Cbr/%3E%0ALeft%20and%20right%20panels%3A%2060%201/4%20x%2031%201/4%20in%20%28153%20x%2079.4%20cm%29%3Cbr/%3E%0ACenter%20panel%3A%2060%201/4%20x%2037%201/4%20in%20%28153%20x%2094.6%20cm%29%3Cbr/%3E%0ADuration%3A%2010%20min%2034%20sec%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22edition_details%22%3EEdition%20of%201%20plus%201%20artist%27s%20proof%3C/div%3E
Manage cookies
Copyright © 2025 James Cohan Gallery
Site by Artlogic

This website uses cookies
This site uses cookies to help make it more useful to you. Please contact us to find out more about our Cookie Policy.

Manage cookies
Accept

Cookie preferences

Check the boxes for the cookie categories you allow our site to use

Cookie options
Required for the website to function and cannot be disabled.
Improve your experience on the website by storing choices you make about how it should function.
Allow us to collect anonymous usage data in order to improve the experience on our website.
Allow us to identify our visitors so that we can offer personalised, targeted marketing.
Save preferences