Bonington Gallery presents Knees Kiss Ground, a solo exhibition by Motunrayo Akinola
Bonington Gallery presents Knees Kiss Ground, a solo exhibition by Motunrayo Akinola exploring migration, faith and belonging, through immersive installations and light works.
By Sarah McLeod | Published on 11 December 2024
Categories: Press office;
A 2023 graduate of the Royal Academy Schools, Motunrayo Akinola is the South London Gallery’s 13th Postgraduate Artist in Residency - an open submission six-month residency that provides an early-career artist with the opportunity to produce a new body of work and the space to exhibit it. Bonington Gallery partnered with South London Gallery (SLG) to deliver Akinola’s residency – his exhibition was shown at SLG in Spring 2024 and opens at Bonington Gallery on 18 January 2025.
For the resulting exhibition Knees Kiss Ground, Akinola draws on his time spent studying architecture to create ‘Cargo’ an immersive installation constructed entirely from corrugated cardboard to replicate the exact dimensions of a shipping container.
Gallery visitors can enter the shipping container, evoking the harsh reality of journeys some migrants suffer to seek refuge in a foreign land and drawing parallels with the forced migration of Africans on slave ships during the transatlantic slave trade. Akinola’s work explores migration, connecting events from the past to the present to understand their ongoing impact.
Akinola’s interest in attitudes towards migration stems from his dual upbringing in London and Lagos, Nigeria. His research throughout his residency has delved into post-colonial power dynamics and the psychology of ownership. By noting subtle gaps in cultural knowledge, his work aims to come to a new understanding about the possession of space.
Akinola also uses light in his installations, exploring the relationship between light and religious or spiritual rituals. These works also reference Biblical associations of light as a revelatory presence.
Motunrayo Akinola
Knees Kiss Ground 18 Jan 2025 - 8 Mar 2025
Exhibition preview: 6-8pm Friday 17 January 2025
Bonington Gallery, Nottingham Trent University
www.boningtongallery.co.uk
Launch event
Book your free ticket to attend the launch event for this exhibition at 6 pm on Friday 17 January 2025.
Notes for Editors
Press enquiries please contact Sarah McLeod, Corporate Communications Manager, on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8735, or via email.
About the artist
Motunrayo Akinola is a London-based artist who uses images of the home and everyday materials to explore comfort and belonging. He creates sculptures, installations, sound and drawings. He studied at RA Schools, graduating in 2023. As a British-born Nigerian who has spent time in and now feels comfortable in both countries, Akinola’s work exposes the nuanced differences between the two places.
About the Residency
Bonington Gallery have partnered with South London Gallery to deliver their 13th Postgraduate Residency, an open submission six-month residency that provides an early-career artist with a rare opportunity to produce a new body of work, which is then exhibited at the SLG and in this instance at Bonington Gallery. The residency is open to artists who have completed a BA, and have undertaken a period of self-directed, peer-led or postgraduate study in the year prior to the residency. This can include alternative, peer organised and non-accredited programmes from an institution, collective or art school in the UK as well as an MA, MFA, PGDip, MRes.
The SLG has an international reputation for its contemporary art exhibitions by established, mid-career and younger artists and programme of film and performance events. Its highly regarded, free education programme includes a peer-led young people’s forum; family workshops; artist-led projects and commissions on local housing estates; and a programme for looked after children.
The Postgraduate Residency is supported by The Paul and Louise Cooke Endowment.
About Bonington Gallery
Founded in 1969, Bonington Gallery has been at the forefront of Nottingham’s rich and vibrant visual arts community for over fifty years, offering an innovative and dynamic programme of local, national, and international significance. Situated at the heart of Nottingham Trent University’s School of Art & Design, our ‘art school’ context is reflected throughout our multi-disciplinary programme of exhibitions and events – presenting and exploring practices related to visual art, fashion, film, music and design. Beyond our building, our connections with colleagues in academic subject areas help ground our programme and thinking within past, present and future cultural and societal discourse
About Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University (NTU) has been named UK ‘University of the Year’ five times in six years, (Times Higher Education Awards 2017, The Guardian University Awards 2019, The Times and Sunday Times 2018 and 2023, Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023) and is consistently one of the top performing modern universities in the UK. It is the 3rd best modern university in the UK (The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023).
NTU is the 5th largest UK institution by student numbers, with over 40,000 students and more than 4,400 staff located across five campuses. It has an international student population of almost 8,000 and an NTU community representing over 160 countries.
NTU owns two Queen’s Anniversary Prizes for outstanding achievements in research (2015, 2021). The first recognises NTU’s research in science, engineering, arts and humanities to investigate and restore cultural objects, buildings and heritage. The second was awarded for research on the safety and security of global citizens.
The Research Excellence Framework (2021) classed 83% of NTU’s research activity as either world-leading or internationally excellent. 86% of NTU’s research impact was assessed to be either world-leading or internationally excellent.
NTU is rated 5/5 stars overall and for Teaching, Employability, Internationalisation, Research and Facilities (QS Stars 2022).
NTU is a top five university for widening participation with 25% of NTU students coming from disadvantaged backgrounds (HESA 2021-22). It was the first UK university to sign the Social Mobility Pledge in 2018 and was named ‘University of the Year’ at the UK Social Mobility Awards in 2019,
NTU is the most sustainable university in the UK and 2nd in the world (UI Green Metric University World Rankings, 2022).