Gerald Chukwuma (born 1973) is a Nigerian visual artist, sculptor and painter. He is known for his intricate mixed-media sculptures using materials like aluminum, copper and wood. His work explores themes of voluntary and forced migration, globalisation and transformation, incorporating elements of the Uli art tradition.
Early life and education Chukwuma was born in 1973 in Lagos State, Nigeria. He attended the University of Nigeria, Nsukka where he studied Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine and applied arts, he graduated in 2003.
Career Chukwuma has joined other Nigerian veteran artists in several exhibitions like Ebenezer Akinola, George Edozie and Olusegun Adejumo.
Chukwuma's 2025 solo exhibition "Water Carried Us Here, Water Will Carry Us Away" was inspired by the Igbo Landing, in which captive Igbo people committed mass suicide in Georgia in 1803 after having taken control of the slave ship they were on and refusing to submit to slavery. The title is a reference to a song believed to have been sung by the enslaved Igbos as they marched into the ocean.
Exhibitions Selected solo exhibitions 2016: People's Paradise, Temple Muse, Lagos 2017: Standing Ovation, Gallery 1957, Accra 2019: Wrinkles, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London 2020: Ikwokirikwo: The Dance of Spirits, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Berlin 2021: Eclipse of the Scrolls, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery (London Bridge), London 2025: Water Carried Us Here, Water Will Carry Us Away, O’DA Art Gallery, Lagos
Selected group exhibitions 2006: With a Human Face, Pan African University, Lagos 2020: Enter Art Fair, with Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Copenhagen 2021: Travels with Herodotus-A Journey through African Cultures, Galleria Bianconi, Milano 2022: Armory Off-Site, New York City
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