The vibrancy and joy of Black life flow through Uzo Njoku’s paintings. According to the 27-year-old artist, Black art often depicts suffering, but she is working to paint life from a varied and jubilant point of view. The Nigerian American artist uses bold hues and animated facial expressions to capture the essence of Black communities through portraiture. 

Her latest show, The Neighborhood, opened Feb. 26 at the Arena Social Arts Club’s West End location and runs through April 7. “Even after moving to New York and all that has happened, the DMV is still my strongest market,” she says. Njoku may have moved to New York, where she currently lives, in 2021, but her local roots still run deep: More than 400 attendees packed into Arena Social Arts Club for the opening of Njoku’s current exhibit, which revolves around D.C. row homes. 

The Neighborhood group show closes Njoku’s ongoing project that began with her 2020 D.C. row house work that was also titled The Neighborhood. Apartment 26, her summer 2023 exhibition, was her first interactive space that focused on bringing to life one of the homes in her ongoing Neighborhood series. She was inspired to create The Neighborhood series in 2019, when she started working as a nanny. The colorful row houses of Logan Circle, a once-Black neighborhood, stood out to her. 

“I went on Google Maps and began to see just how much has changed and I was like, this used to be a predominantly Black area. I just started to focus on how we’ve been pushed out,” she says. Instead of capturing gentrification-producing pushout, her series envisions unadulterated Black neighborhoods, painting Black people fully enjoying where they live without everyday life being policed. Her previous series turned a similar focus on Brooklyn, including Marcus Garvey Park, which offers various pieces of workout equipment for the community to use for free. “Most people can’t afford gyms,” says Njoku. “However, I’ve seen people call the cops on people simply using the equipment,” she says. 

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, and raised in Charlottesville, Njoku bridges her Nigerian culture with her American upbringing by incorporating designs such as the traditional Ankara patterns into the background elements of her pieces. It’s reminiscent of American portrait artist Kehinde Wiley. But while Njoku’s love for creating patterns through fashion design began in high school, she didn’t learn to paint until college after switching majors from statistics to studio art. She graduated from the University of Virginia in 2019. 

In addition to being an artist, Njoku is an entrepreneur set on bridging the gap between fine art and the commercial world of design. Keen on making sure her work is accessible, her buzzy twist on French toile-inspired wallpaper made a splash when it was released last year with Otto Studios. She also offers prints, puzzles, and apparel. 

“I think that as Black people we’re just so colorful. The way that we dress, the music we listen to, and even the names that we give our pets. I feel the best way to capture that is by using bright bold colors,” Njoku says. “When you look at my work I want you to feel content and happy,” she adds. 

Adding to the community-centric focus of her work, Njoku invited 13 emerging artists from the D.C. area, New York, and London to display their art at the Arena Social Arts Club exhibition. More than 200 artists submitted applications to take part in The Neighborhood and Njoku whittled it down to a baker’s dozen. Her ultimate goal was to create an opportunity for emerging artists to showcase their work without jumping through financial loopholes and elevate their platforms. Njoku is all too familiar with galleries taking more than their fair share of profit and wanted to create an opportunity for rising artists to not feel exploited. 

“The art world can be successful because of how it exploits artists and that’s the truth of the matter,” Njoku says. “Most of these galleries are taking 50 percent. There is no reason to take 50 percent, but it’s industry standard. Most people don’t fight it, most people aren’t business savvy,” she continues. 

Mediums on display in The Neighborhood include photography, sculpture, and painting. Artists in the show will also have the opportunity to produce merchandise available to purchase on Njoku’s website, everything from T-shirts to prints. 

“Curating a show as a practicing artist required a special level of care,” she explains. “I needed to create an opportunity for conversation and support, which I found many group exhibitions lacked.”

The Neighborhood by Uzo Njoku runs through April 7 at the Arena Social Arts Club. arenasocial.org. Free.