San Francisco’s de Young Museum is glowing with color thanks to Nengi Omuku: The Gathering, the Nigerian painter’s first solo museum exhibition in the United States. On view in Galleries 40 and 50 through May 14, 2028, the show invites visitors to slow down and step into dreamlike scenes that imagine a better, gentler world for young Nigerians.
Omuku paints in oil on sanyan, a traditional Yoruba textile once reserved for ceremonial dress, so every canvas carries the warmth and memory of woven cloth. Her figures gather in lush forests, tranquil gardens, and along the water’s edge, resting, talking, and simply being together. Installed in dialogue with the de Young’s celebrated African art collection, the paintings feel both contemporary and timeless, tracing how people stay connected to one another, to the land, and to the stories that guide generations.
The title work, The Gathering (2020), sets the tone: a golden figure reclines at the center of a circle of companions, surrounded by soft, ghostly silhouettes. Critics have praised the works as meditations on collective care, and the museum has paired the exhibition with stories and programs exploring how a painting can also be a textile and a sculpture at once. It is a joyful, restorative stop on any Golden Gate Park day.
Photo: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
