Nigerian artist, Delano named among 12 artists ‘On The Rise’ by New York Times

A Nigerian artist, Oluwasemilore Delano has been named among 12 artists on the rise at The Armory Show by The New York Times, following her first New York solo presentation with Lagos-based Adegbola Gallery.
 The selection by Will Heinrich and Aruna D’Souza featured Delano’s the life of a few, a body of paintings presented at the Javits Center from September 24 to 27.
  
Working between Lagos and London, Delano developed the series from encounters and observations at the Oko Oba abattoir in Lagos, where she explored cows as individual beings with distinct identities, vulnerabilities and fates.
  Through skeletons, scars and taut muscles, the paintings examine mortality, labour and the relationship between bodies and their environments.
 
“I have become increasingly interested in animals as another way of thinking about ourselves. The cow’s skin, however thick, tells the truth,” Delano said.
  Materials also remain central to Delano’s practice. She works with oil paint, charcoal, wood, concrete and metal, allowing their textures and histories to influence her works.
 
Wood grain remains visible within her images, while charcoal retains its connection to fire. Her interest in materials developed while growing up in Nigeria, where she observed how everyday objects were adapted, repaired and transformed out of necessity.
 Delano studied architecture at King’s College, University of Cambridge, before completing an MFA with distinction at the Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford, in 2024.
 
In 2026, she undertook a residency at G.A.S. Foundation in Lagos, supported by Adegbola Gallery.
 “From our earliest exhibitions with Oluwasemilore in Lagos, we recognised an artist of exceptional promise,” Adegbola Gallery Director, Kayode Adegbola said.
 
Her New York presentation was part of Adegbola Gallery’s programme supporting artists through exhibitions, residencies, research and international art fairs, alongside its engagement with Nigerian modernism.