moniquemeloche is pleased to present To Translate is to Move Across, a solo exhibition of new works by Lagos-born Luke Agada. Agada’s work investigates the forces of globalization, migration, and cultural dislocation, situating them within a postcolonial context to explore how they shape the emergence of new cultural forms. Heavily inspired by the writings of Homi Bhabha and his concept of the “third space”–a psychological realm of cultural hybridity and negotiation where identities are not fixed but constantly changing–Agada’s surrealist paintings hover between form and fluidity. The Bhabhaian concept states that individuals in the third space constantly navigate between different cultural influences and adapt their identities to their new environment–something alto familiar to Agada who emigrated to the US in 2021 to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for his MFA. Agada, who now resides in Chicago, contends with how home has come to mean more than one place. For the artist’s first full solo exhibition with the gallery since graduating in 2023, the works in To Translate is to Move Across articulate a vision of movement that defies rigid categorization, exposing the hybrid, unstable, and fluid nature of meaning and belonging.

Opening Reception: Saturday, September 20, 4-7pm