Radiant Rays and Shifting Sands

Press Release

Amoda. Anidi. Blocton. Diako. Lebowitz. Leys. McCarthy. Nayo. Nosseir. Pefura. Rich. Wynter

Skoto Gallery is pleased to present “Radiant Rays and Shifting Sands”, a group exhibition that brings together works in various media including drawings, paintings, sculpture, photography and works on paper by an international group of established and emerging artists. The opening reception is Thursday, November 20, 6-8pm

The exhibition, titled “Radiant Rays and Shifting Sands,” reflects the diverse backgrounds, experiences, and styles of the participating artists, while simultaneously alluding to the vitality and creative energy that runs through their work in a time of changing circumstances. Despite their varied traditions and personal cultural backgrounds, each of these artists responds to the notion of a classical or canonic Western modernism. They either embrace it or find individual ways to critique it. What makes this collection particularly compelling is the evident struggle, the process of seeking and discovery, as each artist strives to find a personal and essential relationship to this pervasive, transcultural vision.

Obiora Anidi (b. 1957) is a celebrated Nigerian sculptor from the Uli tradition and one of the founding members of the famous AKA Circle of Exhibiting Artists. Often paired with ambiguous titles, Anidi’s powerful sculptures transform physical experiences into nuanced abstract and formal language. He is a widely exhibited artist whose work is recognized and prized in numerous private and public collections at home and abroad. He graduated with an HND in Fine and Applied Art and Sculpture from the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu, Nigeria in 1982. He also holds Masters and Doctorate degrees in Educational Technology from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Enugu State University of Technology, respectively.

Lula Mae Blocton is an African American artist and painter. Color is her passion. What she has been dealing with is the quality of color, looking at it and perceiving it as transparent. Throughout her career she has tried to identify herself using color relationships and structure. Her work can be seen as specific stages of developing towards these goals. Lula’s early work consisted of overlapping geometric patterns creating transparent combinations of color, much like weaving cloth to create a pattern. Her work is in several collections including the Mott-Warsh Collection, Flint. MI; Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH. She is included in the upcoming inaugural Aldrich Decennial: I Am What is Around Me, June 7, 2026 – January 3, 2027, at The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT.

Gerard McCarthy’s ceramic work is a meditation on the skillful manipulation of line, volume and mass, depth and shallowness. The forms may be viewed as miniature architectural structures, alluding to dynamic qualities of inhabitable buildings, both private and public. A unifying element in this body of work is the application of white terra sigillata, an ancient technique of coating the clay in a liquid of suspended clay particles. His composition is pure enough to approach an abstract sensibility yet layered with a poetic meaning for the observer.