ICONOCLAST BY OSINACHI
RED \ HANKY, 2025 by Osinachi
16.06.2025 – 22.06.2025, Art Basel Week / Digital Art Mile, Basel, Switzerland
Kate Vass Galerie is pleased to present Iconoclast, a solo program by Nigerian digital artist Osinachi. The selection spans from early to most recent digital paintings (2019–2025), as well as, a special project Forgotten Relics Part II - series created during the artist residency at the Bellagio Center in Italy in 2025.
Iconoclast invites viewers to engage with Osinachi's art, which questions human identity in the digital age, cultural disorientation, and social-environmental turmoil.
QUESTION, 2024 by Osinachi
BLACK:SHIP, 2023 by Osinachi
Historically, iconoclasts in the 8th–9th centuries fought against the worship of religious images, opposing the imposed visual representation of faith. They challenged the authority of these works and the way they dictated how belief was to be visualized and practiced. By eliminating religious images, they sought to purify, reshape, and transform the religious and cultural order. Osinachi represents a different kind of iconoclast. His work does not seek to destroy cultural symbols but to critically reframe them. He challenges common prejudices and power structures embedded in cultural norms, and disrupts the conventions that restrict self-expression and personal autonomy.
A BEAUTIFUL STORM, 2020 by Osinachi
NDuka’s Wedding Day, 2019 by Osinachi
Through Symbolism as an integral expression, he explores the above themes and social marginalization and environmental downshift. Drawing from rich imagery rooted in Nigerian traditions alongside broader art-historical references, his work confronts standard social norms, with a particular focus on masculinity, gender identity, and psychological crises in the fast-changing, but still very conservative world. His art subverts expectations by often portraying men of color in roles mostly prescribed to women. Motifs that have long held significance in African and global art traditions take on new meanings in Osinachi’s hands, amplifying never-ending questions of survival, resilience, and transformation.
With Microsoft Word as his canvas, Osinachi combines traditional and modern digital tools. He challenges the media and conventions that have defined classical art, while simultaneously highlighting the tensions between the past and the present in our rapidly transforming world.
RED \ MUG, 2025 by Osinachi
The exhibition also introduces Forgotten Relics Part II, a series of works created during the artist's residency at the Bellagio Center in Italy, 2025. Marking the shift from his earlier symbolic works, new pieces depict the future – robotic and confined—no longer organic and alive. They represent the emotional void and potential cultural loss that accompany technological progress with societal behaviour. These works reflect not only ecological concerns but also the broader erosion of identity in an age of accelerated change.
DEAR\EST, 2025
GOD’S \ EYE-VIEW, 2025
BUY \ BREAD, 2025
"Forgotten Relics Part II" is a continuation of a series by Osinachi, released in 2024. In this new series of artworks, the artist continues to explore the complex and urgent themes of self-identity, technological advancement, and the escalating environmental crisis. Created during Osinachi's residency at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center in Italy, Part II represents a vision of a near future where human actions have profoundly damaged the natural world, leading to heightened conflicts between humanity and the environment. Within this context, the series also explores the ways in which individuals seek connection and kinship with technology and other species as a means of navigating environmental collapse.
The artworks depict evocative scenes of protagonists navigating a future shaped by environmental destruction. These scenes are populated with elements such as robotic versions of animals, highlighting the intricate interactions between humans and other beings while also serving as a powerful visual commentary on the potential consequences of humanity's actions. These works in the series demonstrate Osinachi’s thought-provoking exploration of these critical contemporary issues.
Location:
The Digital Art Mile
Rebgasse 25
4058 Basel
Switzerland
Date:
From 16th June -
22nd June 2025