Celebrate the opening Victor Ekpuk's solo exhibition
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Date: August
26, 2026
Venue:
Goethe-Institut Washington
1377 R St. NW, 3rd Floor
Washington, DC 20009, USA
Opening Reception: 6:30
PM-8:00 PM
Artist Talk: September
29, 2026.
6:30 PM-8:00 PM
The Goethe-Institut Washington is proud to host this exhibition to explore the cultural resonance and artistic process behind
Victor Ekpuk’s Dancer,
offering visitors a deeper narrative connection to the vibrant public sculpture that greets them just outside our doors.
About the exhibition:
In the fall of 2025, Nigerian-American artist Victor Ekpuk installed
Dancer
at the corner just outside the Goethe-Institut Washington (14th and R Streets NW), a 10-foot, bright red steel figure inspired
by the human form in motion. The Dancer celebrates the universal language of dance as a metaphor for freedom, resilience, and joy.
Commissioned by the Logan Circle Community Association, the sculpture quickly became a new landmark in the neighborhood’s streetscape,
resonating with the area’s history as one of the city's most culturally diverse and creative corners of Washington, DC.
In the "Dancer, Still Moving" exhibition, Ekpuk returns to the figure that has watched over the corner of 14th and R Street, translating
its bold silhouette into a newly released limited-edition serigraph print, alongside a series of smaller sculptures and works on paper that introduce audiences to the artist’s oeuvre. These pieces invite viewers into the lines, rhythms, and symbols that define
Ekpuk’s practice, one rooted in the ancient Nigerian script Nsibidi and his decades-long exploration of reducing form into graphic, symbolic abstraction.
Ultimately, “Dancer, Still Moving” asks what happens when a public icon enters an intimate gallery space: still recognizable, still in motion, and
still speaking.
About Victor Ekpuk:
Victor Ekpuk is a Smithsonian Fellow and an internationally renowned artist based in Washington, D.C. He is celebrated for a diverse
portfolio spanning paintings, drawings, sculptures, and monumental public art. Drawing inspiration from Nsibidi, an indigenous ideographic script of southeastern Nigeria, his art functions as a visual language that bridges historical tradition and modern abstraction,
inviting viewers to engage in a silent dialogue with the forms and symbols he creates.
His work explores the human condition, touching on themes of cultural memory, identity, and the shared human experience. Over
a career spanning more than three decades, his work has evolved from the canvas to immersive public installations, including monumental sculpture
Dancer in Washington, D.C., and The
Face
in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Passage
to Promise, Al Safa Library of Art and Design, Dubai, UAE, as well as
Conversation,
a tile mosaic mural at Bowie State University in Maryland, US.
Ekpuk is a recipient of the 2025 Margaret Herz Demant African Art Award from the Detroit Institute of Art for his contribution
to contemporary African art. His artworks are held in prominent public and private collections worldwide, including The Phillips Collection, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, The
Newark Museum of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), The World Bank (Washington, D.C.), Hood Museum of Art, Krannert Art Museum, United States Embassy (Art in Embassies Program), Bank ABC (The Kingdom of Bahrain), Kiran Nader Museum (New Delhi), and Soho
House art collection.
His work has been featured in international exhibitions such as the Dak’Art Biennale in Senegal, the Havana Biennial, the Johannesburg
Biennial, and the Guangzhou Triennial, as well as at institutions including the Institut du Monde Arabe (Paris), the Fowler Museum (Los Angeles), New Museum (New York), and the Museum of Arts and Design (New York)
Artwork: "Dancer, c2026, serigraphy, edition of 30.
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