Ugo Ahiakwo: After the Dance

Rele, Lagos proudly presents After the Dance, a solo exhibition by Nigerian Artist Ugo Ahiakwo. Ahiakwo’s practice is defined by a dialogue with materials, in which discarded vehicle parts and industrial fragments are transformed into sculptural forms that oscillate between resilience and fragility. Bent metal, polished surfaces, and rusted scars bear the marks of violence and repair, becoming metaphors for the fault lines and redemptive possibilities of human intimacy. After the Dance takes its title from Marvin Gaye’s song and Jan Gaye’s memoir, which recounts how a relationship that began in beauty and passion unraveled into abuse and turmoil. After the Dance expands on themes of intimacy, fracture, and redemption that have shaped Ugo’s evolving practice. Here, Ahiakwo turns to love itself as subject matter, not only as tenderness and bloom, but also as a volatile terrain where passion can quickly unravel into control, manipulation, or violence. rele.co