We are pleased to announce October Gallery’s first participation at 1-54, New York, 2019.  The fifth edition of the renowned fair takes place this year in the West Village’s iconic Industria. October Gallery will showcase an exciting selection of new works by Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga, LR Vandy and Alexis Peskine.   A rising star, Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga continues to enthrall the imagination of the contemporary art world. Represented by October Gallery since 2015, his work has become highly sought after by collectors worldwide. Through his paintings he explores the seismic shifts in the economic, political and social identity of the DRC that have taken place since colonialism. Increasingly globalised, there is a sense in the DRC that some of its people are rejecting its heritage, a conflict that fuels Kamuanga Ilunga’s work.   His large scale figurative compositions possess a depth of historical understanding, with a striking and sophisticated interplay of the intensity of space juxtaposed with emptiness. The listless figures seem to mourn the loss of their traditional cultures, their bright fabrics hanging limply from their bodies, their hands clutching ritual objects whose functions seem less and less apparent.    Alexis Peskine continues to gain global recognition for his powerful nails pieces and photography.    Alexis Peskine’s signature works are large-scale mixed media ‘portraits’ of the African diaspora, which are rendered by hammering gold leafed nails of different gauge, with pin-point accuracy, into wood stained with coffee and mud to create breath-taking composite images. He depicts figures that portray strength, perseverance and self-possession, with energy startlingly reminiscent of the Minkisi “power figures” of the Congo Basin, spiritually charged objects whose traditional function was to protect and ward off evil spirits.    LR Vandy made her sell-out debut in London last autumn at 1-54. In her sculptures, she brings together both found and made objects in order to create new meaning. The artist’s ‘Hull’ series of sculptures takes model boat hulls animated with fishing floats, porcupine quills and acupuncture needles. When mounted on to the wall they resemble masks.   Vandy transforms the perception of the hull for the viewer. The artist takes the part of the boat which would normally be covered by water and makes it visible. The forms of the hulls allude to the transportation of commodities as well as migration of people, but as masks they present a transformation of identity, drawing upon the tradition of talismans, charms and amulets.    Notes to Editors Biographies of artists exhibited by October Gallery, London:   Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1991, Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga studied painting at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Kinshasa. He abandoned the Académie’s formal education and quickly aligned himself with other artists to establish M’Pongo, a group studio where young artists shared ideas and exhibited together to generate their own vibrant scene. Kamuanga Ilunga was long-listed for the FT/Oppenheimer Funds Emerging Voices Awards 2016. In 2017 Kamuanga Ilunga’s work was included in the exhibition African-Print Fashion Now!, at the Fowler Museum, UCLA, touring to Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, Tennessee, and Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina. His work has been exhibited internationally at institutions including Frist Art Museum, Tennessee, USA; Kunsthaus, Graz, Austria; Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Birmingham, U.K. and Saatchi Gallery, London, U.K. His work is part of several important collections including the Zeitz Collection. In 2016, October Gallery held the first solo show of Eddy’s work, which was followed in 2018 by Fragile Responsibility at October Gallery.   Born in 1979, Paris, France, Alexis Peskine lives and works between Paris and Dakar. In 2016, the Institut Français, Dakar, Senegal held a major solo exhibition of Peskine’s work, Raft of Medusa: Le Retour de la Vague. In 2018, his works were included in the exhibition In Their Own Form held at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, Illinois, USA, also in the prestigious exhibition Second Generations in Africa House, New York, and works by the artist were presented by the University of Palermo and New York University as part of Black Mediterranean: ReSignifications at Cantieri Culturali alla Zisa, Palermo, Sicily. In 2017, Alexis Peskine: Power Figures, a solo show of the artist’s work was held at October Gallery. Born in 1958, in Britain of Irish and Nigerian descent, LR Vandy studied Graphic Design & Printmaking at Camberwell College of Arts before completing her Master’s Degree in Furniture Design at the Royal College of Art. Her work European, 2015, was recently acquired by the British Museum. Vandy will have her highly anticipated first solo show at October Gallery in late May 2019.