1. Ugochukwu-Smooth C Nzewi is a Nigerian artist, art historian, and curator, currently curator in the Department of Painting and Sculpture at Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
14 Facts About Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi
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Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi was raised in Enugu and studied under sculptor El Anatsui at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, before traveling as an artist and curator.
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Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi studied sculpture under El Anatsui at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and received a bachelor's degree in fine and applied art in 2001.
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In 2006, Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi moved to Cape Town, South Africa, where he worked on a yearlong postgraduate program in Museum and Heritage Studies at the University of Western Cape while serving as an artist-in-residence at the Greatmore Studio in Woodstock, Cape Town.
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The next year, 2007, Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi moved to Atlanta, Georgia, and began a doctorate degree in art history at Emory University.
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Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi wrote his dissertation on the Dak'Art biennial's influence on contemporary African art, and graduated in May 2013.
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Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi has collaborated with Emeka Ogboh, whom he met in college.
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Dak'Art had served as important link between the African and international art world, and Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi helped to situate the show's own role in developing "pan-African internationalism".
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In mid-2015, Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi curated a monthlong survey of African art at the Richard Taittinger Gallery in New York.
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In late 2016, Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi served as a guest curator at the Shanghai Biennale.
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In 2019, Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi was appointed Steven and Lisa Tananbaum Curator in the Department of Painting and Sculpture at the New York Museum of Modern Art.
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In 2023, Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi was part of the selection committee that nominated Zasha Colah as artistic director of the Berlin Biennale in 2025.
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Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi has expressed interest in learning from the creative process as artists make intellectual decisions about their work on reflection of how it will be received by others and the market.
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Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi has published essays in multiple academic art journals, contributed to Grove Art Online, and co-edited a volume on independent African art initiatives.