London

Joy Through Resistance: He Who Laughs Last, Laughs Best — Cristea Roberts Gallery — closes July 11

Best known for turning playgrounds, pavilions and public plazas into riots of colour, Yinka Ilori steps into the gallery for his first solo show in his home city. Over 20 new works spanning painting, print, sculpture and an immersive sound installation trace the British-Nigerian artist's family history, faith, and the resilience of the diaspora. Expect a recurring visual language of Nigerian yellow trumpet flowers layered over British daffodils and ornamental lace — motifs drawn from Ilori's memories of his mother and the fabric markets of north London. A sculptural sound installation featuring congas, a custom shekere and a drumkit, each wrapped in lace, anchors the show, pairing the pulse of percussion with the fragility of textile. It's Ilori's most introspective work to date

Lagos

Asidere/Duke — Adegbola Gallery x Fresco Gallery — closes July 18

A collaboration between two of Victoria Island's leading spaces surveys more than 40 years of practice by Nigerian painter Duke Asidere. The exhibition's title nods to the artist's own dual identity: Asidere Duke, the instinctive painter working from memory and feeling, versus Duke Asidere, the disciplined craftsman trained at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Rather than resolving that tension, the works hold both in the same frame — canvases built up, cut into, and left deliberately unfinished. Expect a striking material range, from oil and palette knife to graphite, watercolour and mixed media, plus a series of annotated clock faces that read as a running commentary on Nigerian social and political life.

New York

Many A Moonlit Caveat — Jack Shainman Gallery — closes July 31

Spanning the gallery's Tribeca and Chelsea spaces, this show brings together new paintings and works on paper by the Turner Prize-shortlisted, Ghanaian-British painter. Yiadom-Boakye is known for portraits of invented Black subjects untethered from any specific time or place — figures drawn from imagination rather than photographs or real sitters. This body of work leans into themes of grief and communion: mourners in traditional Ghanaian funeral dress, tightly controlled brushwork replacing her earlier expressive marks, and quiet moments of shared meals and gathering. It's a departure for an artist long associated with painting solitude, and one of the most widely reviewed shows of her career this year.

Shanghai

Figuring Presence — Pearl Lam Galleries — closes August 31 (extended)

Nigerian artist Alimi Adewale's first solo exhibition in China, curated by Maria Rus Bojan, brings together recent work exploring the intersection of ancestral African symbolism and contemporary iconography. A trained mechanical engineer turned painter and sculptor, Adewale is known for building texture into his surfaces — several works here are painted directly onto kilim and dhurrie rugs, their woven patterns and earthy tones becoming active elements of the composition rather than backdrops. Expect figures that prioritise spiritual and symbolic presence over literal realism, alongside pieces like Timeless Gaze, which fuses the tactile warmth of textile with the sculptural language of African mask portraiture.

Antibes

Outdoor sculpture presentation ft. Yinka Shonibare — Goodman Gallery at Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc — closes October 18

Kicking off Goodman Gallery's Côte d'Azur season, this presentation places major outdoor works by Yinka Shonibare alongside William Kentridge in the landscaped gardens of the storied Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc — marking the public debut of these large-scale sculptures in France. It follows recent institutional outings for both artists: Shonibare's Suspended States at London's Serpentine, and Kentridge at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Expect Shonibare's signature Dutch wax-patterned forms set against the Mediterranean landscape, a rare chance to see his large-scale sculptural language outside a museum context.

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