Summary:
- Ken Nwadiogbu presents a solo body of work at Frieze London from 14 to 18 October 2026.
- He won the 2026 Degussa Young Generation Art Award on 19 February in Berlin.
- The presentation includes Akwete fabric walls and live performances based on Igbo masquerade.
Painter Ken Nwadiogbu will present a solo body of work at Frieze London, which runs from 14 to 18 October 2026 at The Regent's Park. The Degussa Lounge hosts the presentation, titled I Know the Shadow Will Always Be There.
He earned the slot by winning the 2026 Degussa Young Generation Art Award. Degussa launched the prize in 2024 with Monopol magazine for artists under 35. A jury of Elke Buhr, Yilmaz Dziewior and Maya Heckelmann chose him from a shortlist of five, selected from around 400 applications. Degussa presented the award on 19 February 2026 at the Hotel de Rome in Berlin. The winner receives €10,000, a solo presentation at Frieze London and a one-year travelling exhibition.
The new work centres on his wish to reconnect with his cultural roots, which grew stronger after he moved to London. The starting point came at Tate Modern's Nigerian Modernism exhibition, where he saw Ben Enwonwu's 1962 painting The Dancer. Enwonwu used the masquerade to express Nigerian identity. Nwadiogbu began exploring the Igbo masquerade and now places the figure in scenes of contemporary Western life. He made the paintings for this fair. He calls his style Contemporealism, and the jury described his approach as hyperrealistic figures set against expressive abstract backgrounds.
The setting extends the paintings. Floor-to-ceiling fibres of Akwete fabric, a hand-woven textile Igbo women make in Akwete, cover the walls of the Degussa Lounge. Live performances reinterpret elements of Igbo masquerade on Wednesday 14 and Saturday 17 October. Nwadiogbu says he carries the energy of his culture and ancestors everywhere he goes, visible to others or not.
Born in Lagos in 1994, Nwadiogbu trained as a civil engineer at the University of Lagos before studying at the Royal College of Art in London. His work has shown at the Royal Academy of Arts, Saatchi Gallery and Somerset House.
If you plan to attend, general admission opens at 1pm on Thursday 15 October. The fair closes at 6pm on Sunday 18 October.
Andrea Darren
Born in Manchester, from a young age, she was passionate about art and design. She studied at the University of the Arts in London, where she developed her skills in these fields. Today, Andrea works as an editor for a renowned publishing house, combining her love for art and design with her editorial expertise.
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