Christina Kimeze: Between Wood and Wheel – South London Gallery

South London Gallery presents Christina Kimeze's first institutional solo exhibition, exploring themes of movement, freedom, and identity.

Between Wood and Wheel is the first institutional solo exhibition by London-based artist Christina Kimeze.

 

Christina Kimeze’s practice focuses on painting solitary female figures, often set in lush natural landscapes or abstract interiors defined by patterns and architectural elements like arched doorways and spiral staircases. Shadowy female figures are based on the artist, her friends and family, but they could also be images of ourselves or others from our dreams, or ciphers for humankind. Her work invites us to reflect on the shifting nature of our relationship to our inner lives and how thoughts, feelings and memories might be visualised. Influenced by Black feminist literature, Kimeze uses unique materials like suede matboard, dry chalks, and oil pastels to create paintings with luminous textures and striking depth.

 

For the exhibition, Kimeze has created a new body of work inspired by the resurgent popularity of roller skating in Black communities in London and beyond. These works explore ideas around movement, flight and freedom, evoking sensations of the body moving through space, and how those feelings might be conjured in the mind’s eye. The exhibition also includes a newly commissioned tapestry created in collaboration with Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh.

 

As the lead exhibition donor, the Bukhman Foundation is proud to continue their support of the South London Gallery through this landmark presentation.

 

The exhibition at South London Gallery opens on Friday 31st January, until Sunday 11th May 2025. Admission is free.

About Christina Kimeze

Christina Kimeze lives and works in London. Kimeze studied at The Royal Drawing School postgraduate programme 2021-2022 where she was awarded the Sir Denis Mahon award; and received her undergraduate degree at the University of Oxford in Biological Sciences.

 

She has exhibited recently at the Freud Museum, London (2024); Drawing Biennial 2024 (2024); Dulwich Picture Gallery (2024); Hauser and Wirth, Bruton (2024); White Cube, Paris (2023); Michael Werner Gallery, London (2023); and Palazzo Monti, Brescia, Italy (2022).

 

Images
Installation view of Christina Kimeze: Between Wood and Wheel, 2025. South London Gallery. Photo: Andy Stagg