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Fitzpatrick Gallery

Paris

Chino Amobi

Sextant

Apr 09, 2022

May 28, 2022

Sextant (/ˈsɛkst(ə)nt/) noun. instrument.
An instrument that measures the distance of stars from a ship, despite the instability of the observer.

Born to parents of Nigerian descent in the American south (b.1984, Tuscaloosa, Alabama), Chino Amobi bridges the fields of contemporary art, electronic music, literature, film and fashion with experimental ease. Working across these platforms enhances the richness of each medium; indistinguishable, they dissolve together in unity within the exhibition space.

Amobi’s science fiction narrative, Eroica, a thriller in the Epic tradition, situated between history and myth, unfolds as a cinematic Gesamtkunstwerk within an immersive maximalist stage. Written in the style of a cyberpunk genre, with references to historical nonfiction, folklore, and urban fiction, Eroica opens with a missing person’s report detailing a disappearance under unusual circumstances in New Tibet. In light of the evidence, Amobi’s disappearance is alleged to be a case of onticide — an act of de-subjectification. With sections of the book written entirely in Mandarin, Sanskrit and graphic codes, Amobi situates the reader in a time and place beyond the comfort of an accessible Western vantage point.

The pilot for the first volume of Eroica, directed by Nathan de Paz Habib, introduces the audience to the novel. The opening scene is set in a nondescript basement with an investigator receiving a report for a missing person. Through his investigation, he discovers archives that confirm Amobi’s death from onticide. What follows are a series of flashbacks held within an atmosphere of tension and suspense, revealing the protagonist’s journey.

Drawing from his personal experiences and encounters, Amobi’s phantasmagoric portraits and landscapes dissipate onto his nocturnal canvases, hovering over planes of light, technology, nature and the cosmos. This metamorphosis evolves within a sanctuary where the awakening of new bodily sensations unfolds. Through the myth of Eroica, Amobi reevaluates our ontological relationship with habitable space as a place of cosmogonic immersion; breaking with the subjective isolation of the body and attempting to reconnect to the cosmos through the geography of the intimate.

In the firmament that we observe at night, the stars shine brightly, surrounded by a thick darkness. […] What we perceive as the darkness of the heavens is this light that, though traveling toward us, can not reach us, since the galaxies from which the light originates move away from us at a velocity greater than the speed of light. To perceive, in the darkness of the present, this light that strives to reach us but can not- this is what it means to be contemporary.

— Agamben, G. (2009). What is an apparatus?: And other essays. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.

PRESS
Paris+ par Art Basel

Underscoring the collaborative scope of the Eroica project, Amobi conceived new garments in partnership with designer Karolina Widecka, and photographed for the exhibition by Marc Asekhame.

The scenography was designed under the direction of Maria Fontenele-Reis, with the generous support of the Milan-based furniture collective NM3’s loan of custom-designed pieces, and loans from the collection of Yves Marbrier and Liyu Yeo.

The artist would like to additionally thank Dan Demarre, Chichi Amobi, and Lilian Amobi.

With special thanks to Art Explora x Cité Internationale des Arts residency. The exhibition is the result of six months of research developed during Amobi’s residency in Paris.

↓ VIDEO CREDITS

Written and directed by Nathan de Paz Habib

Photos in the exhibition are made by
Giovanni de Mojana

Starring
Chino Amobi
Shi Yang Shi
Delma Pompeo
Kal dos Santos
Benit Alagbe

Produced by
Fitzpatrick Gallery
Basement HQ

Executive Producer
Robert Okuda Fitzpatrick
Francesco Crespi

Cinematography
Andrea Munafò

Editor
Jacopo Ramella Pajrin

Music
Chino Amobi
John Utterback

Production Manager
Alice Bergamin

Visual VFX
0608

Sound Design
Andrea Sabbatini

Set Designer
Marco Monto

Set Designer Assistant
Adelaide Balsari

Costume Designer
Sara Pamio

Artworks
Chino Amobi
Oracle, 2022
In collaboration with Karolina Widecka
Printed jersey
S (FR 36)
Chino Amobi
Alchemist, 2022
In collaboration with Karolina Widecka
Printed crushed velvet, silk lining, Mother of pearl buttons
Coat & Scarf
M (FR 40)
Chino Amobi
Axis Mundi, 2022
In collaboration with Karolina Widecka
Printed crushed velvet, , silk lining
Women - S (FR 36)
Chino Amobi
Eroica Tablet, 2022
3D Printed Resin
Chino Amobi
PARIS V, 2022
Oil and acrylic on canvas
80 x 60 cm
31 1/2 x 23 5/8 in
Chino Amobi
ORACLE III (CRYSTALMESS), 2022
Oil Acrylic on canvas
100 x 100 cm
39 3/8 x 39 3/8 in
Chino Amobi
ORACLE II (MALIBU), 2021
Oil acrylic on canvas
100 x 100 cm
39 3/8 x 39 3/8 in
Chino Amobi
I.M. PEI, 2022
Oil and acrylic on canvas
101 x 70 cm
39 3/4 x 27 1/2 in
Chino Amobi
Leviathan, 2022
Oil, Acrylic on canvas
243.84 x 152.4 cm
96 x 60 in
Chino Amobi
Æ, 2022
Oil, acrylic on canvas
100 x 100 cm
39 3/8 x 39 3/8 in
Chino Amobi
Serpentine Vespers, 2022
Oil, Acrylic on canvas
120 x 100 cm
47 1/4 x 39 3/8 in
Chino Amobi
NEW TIBET, 2022
Oil acrylic on canvas
76 x 70 cm
29 7/8 x 27 1/2 in
Chino Amobi
PARIS XI, 2022
Oil, Acrylic on canvas
152 x 243 cm
59 7/8 x 95 5/8 in
Chino Amobi
The Water Sprite, 2022
Oil, Acrylic on canvas
120 x 100 cm
47 1/4 x 39 3/8 in
Chino Amobi
Eroicaverse, 2022
Oil, Acrylic on canvas
100 x 100 cm
39 3/8 x 39 3/8 in
Chino Amobi
ORACLE VI (GRACE WALES BONNER), 2021
Oil and acrylic on canvas
80 x 60 cm
31 1/2 x 23 5/8 in
Chino Amobi
ONTICIDE (FOR BAUDELAIRE), 2022
Oil, acrylic on canvas
60 x 60 cm
23 5/8 x 23 5/8 in
Chino Amobi
ORACLE I (LIZ JOHNSON ARTUR), 2021
Oil Acrylic on canvas
100 x 100 cm
39 3/8 x 39 3/8 in
Chino Amobi
X1, 2022
Oil and acrylic on canvas
100 x 100 cm
39 3/8 x 39 3/8 in
Chino Amobi
I8I (EROICA SEXTANT), 2022
Oil, Acrylic on canvas
150 x 150 cm
59 1/8 x 59 1/8 in
Chino Amobi
Eroica Onticide 1, 2022
Eroica Onticide I, 2022
Audio & Video looped
9:22 min
Edition of 3 plus 1 artist’s proof