Born in 1989 in Nairobi, Kenya, Ng’ok now lives and practices in Grahamstown, South Africa. The recipient of the Mellon Foundation’s Visual and Performing Arts of Africa Masters Bursary for 2015, Ng’ok presented her graduate solo exhibition Social Revolution in 2014 to much critical acclaim.
She has participated in numerous group exhibitions, such as: the Rhodes University Student Group Exhibition during the Grahamstown National Arts Festival in 2014; Pooling Our Secrets and later LUSH both at SMAC Gallery, Stellenbosch in 2015; also in 2015, Ng'ok's work was shown alongside renowned international female artists Kara Walker, Candice Breitz and Ellen Gallagher in Speaking Back, an exhibition curated by Natascha Becker in Cape Town, South Africa; UPSTART/STARTUP at SMAC Gallery, Johannesburg; Surface Tension at GUS in Stellenbosch; Summer Show '16 at SMAC Gallery in Stellenbosch, South Africa; African Voices at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare, Zimbabwe; and Disclosure at SMAC Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa both in 2017.
Chemu Ng'ok presented her solo project entitled Self-Esteem for Girls at the FNB Joburg Art Fair in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2017, and will be participating in the fourth New Museum Triennial: Songs for Sabotage in New York City, USA, in 2018. She will also be featured as part of Art21 Magazine’s November/December issue, titled Empathy and guest edited by Yvette Mutumba.
