Adegbola Gallery has reported strong engagement with collectors and institutions following its presentation of works by Uche Okeke, Haneefah Adam and Aaron Kudi at ART X Lagos 2026, where the gallery also helped arrange loans of ceramics by Nigerian pottery pioneer Ladi Kwali.
The gallery participated in the fair at the Federal Palace Hotel on Victoria Island between 5 and 8 November. Its display at Booth 13 brought together artists whose work uses different media to examine memory, identity and artistic inheritance. The gallery described the response in comments published on 14 November.
Okeke’s contribution included conserved linoleum printing blocks and ink drawings. The works offered visitors an opportunity to encounter material associated with the artist’s established practice alongside contemporary approaches shown by the younger participants.
Adam presented portraits of women and a sculptural installation informed by questions of identity and the experiences of women. Her paintings drew inspiration from the hairstyle photographs of J. D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere, according to the gallery’s account of the display. The works brought everyday forms of cultural presentation into a fine-art setting.
Kudi, meanwhile, showed a new body of abstract work marking his first exhibition in Nigeria. His paintings use combinations of liquid metal, ink, enamel and acrylic on tarpaulin and canvas. The layering and removal of materials form part of his approach to the relationship between visual form, material and memory.
The participating gallery also arranged loans of several works by Ladi Kwali for a special exhibition curated by Dr Jareh Das. That presentation, titled Ladi Kwali: Beyond the Vessel, examined the potter’s legacy alongside the women and ceramic traditions that informed her work.
Kwali’s prominence at the fair connected the artistic practice of an earlier generation with questions faced by working artists today. The exhibition included ceramic objects and archival material that situated her achievements within traditions of women’s pottery rather than reducing the account of her career to a single famous name.
ART X Lagos, now in its eleventh edition, brought together 15 galleries and presented programmes involving visual art, film, music, teaching and public conversation. Its 2026 theme, A New Chapter, A New Decade, reflected the event’s expanded work with established and emerging creative communities.
The organisers also ran learning programmes for younger artists and students. A masterclass programme associated with the Kwali exhibition gave 10 emerging artists an opportunity to learn from experienced practitioners, while the fair’s schools programme reportedly reached more than 750 young Nigerians.
Adegbola Gallery said its booth attracted engagement from existing clients, new collectors and representatives of institutions. Those are the gallery’s own observations; independent sales totals, acquisition values and the number of resulting transactions were not disclosed.
The gallery separately welcomed the prominence given to Kwali’s ceramic work in the special presentation. Its involvement in arranging loans formed part of the broader historical display, rather than a claim that the potter’s works were newly created or that all the objects shown originated with the gallery.
This latest account of the gallery’s exhibition response follows earlier reports announcing the ART X programme and Kwali retrospective. The distinct development is the gallery’s post-fair assessment and the details of its three-artist booth and loan contribution.
The fair concluded on 8 November, and the gallery’s published account provides a closer picture of how historical and contemporary Nigerian art were presented together at the 2026 event.
