Fez — Nigerian artist Oluwole Omofemi is presenting “Quiet Territories” at so.art gallery in Casablanca, bringing a new solo exhibition centered on stillness, introspection, and the quiet force of female presence.
The exhibition opened with a reception on Tuesday, May 19, at 7 p.m. at so.art gallery’s space in Casablanca’s Essayouti Place des Iris. The show places Omofemi, one of the most visible African artists of his generation, in direct conversation with Morocco’s growing interest in contemporary African art.
“Quiet Territories” focuses exclusively on female figures. The paintings do not rely on action or obvious narrative. Instead, they create moments of suspension, where each figure appears caught in a private emotional space. Their gazes often turn away from the viewer, creating distance, mystery, and a sense of interior movement.
Portraits shaped by silence
Omofemi’s compositions are marked by bold fields of color and refined visual structures. The backgrounds do not distract from the figures, but frame them with intensity and restraint.
That balance gives the works a soft yet assured presence. The paintings strip away excess detail and direct attention to posture, expression, and the dignity of the subject.
The result is a portraiture that feels less like description and more like an encounter. Viewers are not invited to decode a scene, but to remain with a face, a gesture, or a silence long enough for emotion to emerge.
An artist of identity and representation
Born in Ibadan, Nigeria, in 1988, Omofemi, whose full name is Godwin Oluwole Omofemi, has built an international reputation through portraits that explore memory, identity, and representation. His practice is rooted in the human figure, which he treats as a carrier of emotion and social meaning.
Working mainly in oil and acrylic, he approaches African art as a space for storytelling, transmission, and reflection. His artistic path has been shaped by personal experience and the social realities that surrounded him during childhood, giving his work both intimate and collective resonance.
Omofemi studied at The Polytechnic in Ibadan, where he completed a National Diploma and a Higher National Diploma in painting. His works have appeared in exhibitions in Nigeria, Ghana, Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Morocco, including presentations with Signature African Art, OOA Gallery, Akoje Gallery, and so.art gallery.
A growing international presence
Omofemi’s work has entered collections including the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts in the United Kingdom, the Africa Museum in Belgium, and the National Museum of Ibadan in Nigeria. His market presence has also grown through auction results in New York and London, with sales recorded at Christie’s and Phillips.
In 2022, Omofemi created a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II for Tatler’s Platinum Jubilee issue, a commission that brought his work to a broader international audience. The Guardian later noted that his portrait of the late monarch appeared on Tatler’s 2022 Platinum Jubilee cover.
With “Quiet Territories,” Casablanca becomes part of that wider journey. The exhibition offers Moroccan audiences a close look at an artist whose portraits are both powerful and restrained, using stillness not as absence, but as a way to make identity, emotion, and presence more visible.
