Kayode Ojo
*1990, United States
Lives and works in New York, NY, United States
Biography
Kayode Ojo’s practice emerges from a filtering of the clothing, furniture, musical instruments, cameras, faux-luxury objects, and popular media that are encountered in everyday life. His sculptures are precariously balanced arrangements of such found objects atop glass and mirrors or in readymade cages, often titled after film and theater references, performing a delicate double-duty as both consumer good and artwork. Ojo’s photographs are drawn from a decades-long archive of candid, spontaneous captures, documenting moments of performativity late at night.
Ojo (*1990, United States) lives and works in New York. He has presented three solo exhibitions at Sweetwater, most recently in 2024. Other recent solo exhibitions have taken place at Maureen Paley and 52 Walker. His work is featured in the permanent collections of the Hessel Museum of Art, Museum Brandhorst, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, the Stedelijk Museum, and the Studio Museum. Ojo received a BFA from the School of Visual Arts, New York, in 2012.
Selected Texts
Exhibitions
Artworks
Curriculum Vitae
Education
| 2012 | BFA, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY, United States |
Selected Solo and Two-Person Exhibitions
| 2025 | An angel is just a messenger, Maureen Paley, London, United Kingdom |
| 2024 | Me & U, Sweetwater, Berlin, Germany |
| Me estás poniendo nervioso, Galeria OMR, Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 2023 | Eden, 52 Walker, New York, NY, United States |
| Half-Life, von ammon co., Washington, D.C., United States | |
| 2022 | Could You Bare Your Torso?, Università Iuav di Venezia, Venice, Italy |
| 2021 | Call it what you want, Sweetwater, Berlin, Germany |
| 2020 | The Aviator, Martos Gallery, New York, NY, United States |
| Never Been Kissed, Praz-Delavallade, Los Angeles, CA, United States | |
| 2019 | You dressed him like me?, Via Durini 24, Milan, Italy |
| 2018 | Equilibrium, Martos Gallery, New York, NY, United States |
| Closer, Sweetwater, Berlin, Germany | |
| Betrayal, Balice Hertling, Paris, France | |
| Kayode Ojo, Zoe Leonard, Paula Cooper, New York, NY, United States | |
| Running on Empty, And Now, Dallas, TX, United States | |
| 2017 | Taye Diggs with Winslow Laroche, Motel, New York, NY, United States |
| maybe no one will notice, Guertin’s Graphics, New York, NY, United States | |
| you gotta keep your head up but you can let your hair down, 55 Gansevoort, New York, NY, United States |
Selected Group Exhibitions
| 2025 | North, curated by David Rimanelli, Bodenrader, Chicago, IL, United States |
| Fictions of Display, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA, United States | |
| Brick!, Amanita, New York, NY, United States | |
| Hope is a dangerous thing, P·P·O·W, New York, NY, United States | |
| The Abstract Future, Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles, CA, United States | |
| A Record of Temporary Conviction, CLEARING, Los Angeles, CA, United States | |
| Still There, curated by Tenzing Barshee, 69 Art Campus, Beijing, China | |
| Image of the City, Josey, Cologne, Germany | |
| The Perennials, Balice Hertling, Paris, France | |
| Solid at Room Temperature, Microscope, New York, NY, United States | |
| XIII, Hessel Museum of Art, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, United States | |
| Looking Back / The 15th White Columns Annual, curated by Elisabeth Kley, White Columns, New York, NY, United States | |
| 2024 | Incandescence, Lehman College Art Gallery, New York, NY, United States |
| MANIFESTO organised by KALEIDOSCOPE, Espace Niemeyer, Paris, France | |
| The Secret History, Gladstone Gallery, New York, NY, United States | |
| New York, N. Why?, Gems, New York, NY, United States | |
| 2023 | Boffo Fall Benefit Exhibition, Kurimanzutto, New York, NY, United States |
| Oak House, Fernberger, Newport, RI, United States | |
| Eugenics in the Garden, Tureen, Dallas, TX, United States | |
| Found in Translation, 56 Henry and Art Intelligence Global, Hong Kong | |
| Lost/Found, curated by Archiebald Ruphulu, Galleria Poggiali, Milan, Italy | |
| Devils on Horseback, 032c, Berlin, Germany | |
| MZ.25 (My Condolences), M+B, Los Angeles, CA, United States | |
| 2022 | Perspektiven. Futurismen, Mercedes-Benz Contemporary, Berlin, Germany |
| Exposition N°120 (maybe), Balice Hertling, Paris, France | |
| that other world, the world of the teapot. tenderness, a model, Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover, Germany | |
| F*CK ART: the body & its absence, Museum of Sex, New York, NY, United States | |
| Focus Group 3, von ammon co., Washington, D.C., United States | |
| The Last Day of Disco, Fragment Gallery, New York, NY, United States | |
| Before I met you the world seemed like such a big place… now there is only this shop, Sweetwater, Berlin, Germany | |
| Late Night Enterprise, Perrotin, New York, NY, United States | |
| Legally Blonde, Downs & Ross, New York, NY, United States | |
| 2021 | Rested, Nicola Vassell, New York, NY, United States |
| Fetiche, Morán Morán, Mexico City, Mexico | |
| Friends & Family, Magenta Plains, New York, NY, United States | |
| Greater New York, curated by Ruba Katrib, Serubiri Moses, Kate Fowle, and Inés Katzenstein, MoMA PS1, New York, NY, United States | |
| 7th Athens Biennale: Eclipse, Athens, Greece | |
| Alien Nation, von ammon co., Washington, D.C., United States | |
| Under a Loggia, Winter Street Gallery at Galería Hilario Galguera, Mexico City, Mexico | |
| Lost and Found, curated by Bob Nickas, Martos Gallery, New York, NY, United States | |
| Lucky for Men, curated by David Rimanelli, Bortolami Gallery, New York, NY, United States | |
| 2020 | Grace before Jones, curated by Cédric Fauq, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, United Kingdom |
| Get Rid of Yourself, curated by Jeppe Ugelvig, Sophie Tappeiner, Vienna, Austria | |
| Eigenheim, Soft Opening, London, United Kingdom | |
| Gennariello (Part II), Balice Hertling, Paris, France | |
| Love Sign, Galerie Noah Klink, Berlin, Germany | |
| Focus Group II, Von Ammon Co., Washington, D.C., United States | |
| All Them Witches, curated by Laurie Simmons, Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles, CA, United States | |
| 2019 | Dicke Luft, curated by Tenzing Barshee, Galerie Bernhard, Zurich, Switzerland |
| The person who is recording cannot intervene, curated by Ruth Pilston, Arcadia Missa, London, United Kingdom | |
| Horology, curated by Elizabeth Jaeger and Silke Lindner-Sutti, Jack Hanley Gallery, New York, NY, United States | |
| Life and Limbs, curated by Anna-Sophie Berger, Swiss Institute, New York, NY, United States | |
| AWE, Merchant Marine Academy, Hydra, Greece | |
| Rubus Armeniacus (Himalayan blackberry), Jessica’s Apartment, New York, NY, United States | |
| Artists Use Photography, Praz-Delavallade, Los Angeles, CA, United States | |
| Cruising Pavilion, Goethe-Institut Curatorial Residencies Ludlow 38, New York, NY, United States | |
| 2018 | A Strong Desire, PS120, Berlin, Germany |
| Blood Clots, Salon 94 Freemans, New York, NY, United States | |
| Ormai, Balice Hertling, Paris, France | |
| Inflatable Tear, curated by Ellie Rines, Ceysson & Bénétière, New York, NY, United States | |
| 2017 | Invisible Man, curated by Ebony Haynes, Martos Gallery, New York, NY, United States |
| my fossil, my echo I my excess, my scrap, curated by Gabrielle Jensen and Julia Lee, MX Gallery, New York, NY, United States | |
| 2016 | Mortal Sequence, curated by Heather Guertin, Brennan and Griffin, New York |
| Baboon Undaunted, curated by Jake Begin, Museum Gallery, New York | |
| Memory Room, Outpost Artist Resources, New York, NY, United States | |
| 2015 | AGGRO-CULTURE x Farm Tour CSA, Holiday Cafe, New York, NY, United States |
| Natural Flavor, curated by Vivien Trommer, MINI/Goethe-Institut Ludlow, New York, NY, United States | |
| Inventors at the Apocalypse, curated by Jake McNulty, Institut für Alles Mögliche, Berlin, Germany | |
| 2012 | Global Projects: Artists at Home and Abroad, Broadway, New York, NY, United States |
| True Lies, curated by Colleen O’Connor and Pacifico Silano, Visual Arts Gallery, New York, NY, United States | |
| 2011 | If You See Men Stroking Their Beards, Stroke Yours, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY, United States |
| 2010 | Group show, curated by Fia Backstrom, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY, United States |
Public Collections
| CCS Hessel Museum of Art, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, United States | |
| Museum Brandhorst, Munich, Germany | |
| Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA, United States | |
| Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands | |
| The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY, United States |
Selected Press
| 2024 | Mark Westall, Art Basel Hong Kong 2025: 242 World-Class Galleries From 42 Countries, FAD Magazine, October 31 |
| Louis Lu, Art Basel Hong Kong Is Primed for 2025, ArtAsiaPacific, October 31 | |
| Serubiri Moses, Reason, Cliché, Object: A Few Notes on African Art Exhibitions, e-flux, Issue #148, October | |
| Robert Frost, Kayode Ojo, Émergent Magazine, Issue 12 | |
| Mateos, Pierre-Alexandre and Teyssou, Charles, “Kayode Ojo”. Kaleidoscope, Online | |
| 2023 | Will Heinrich, Eden at 52 Walker, The New York Times, December 31 |
| Kat Herriman, Kayode Ojo Wants You to Question Your Relationship to Fashion, W Magazine, November 30 | |
| Linda Yablonsky, At 52 Walker, Kayode Ojo raids Amazon.com to create a Modernist Eden, The Art Newspaper, November 29 | |
| Taylor Dafoe, Kayode Ojo’s Glittery Readymades May Be About Capitalism or Fetishism— But He Won’t Tell You Which, Artnet, November 22 | |
| Keegan Brady, Kayode Ojo’s Spiritual Readymades, PIN-UP Magazine, October | |
| Mark Jenkins, In the galleries: Using technology as a medium and an inspiration, The Washington Post, February 10 | |
| Terri Henderson, Critic’s Pick, Artforum, February 1 | |
| 2022 | María Muñoz, Kayode Ojo - Glitter, fast fashion, and faux glamour, METAL Magazine, #47 |
| Simon Wu, Kayode Ojo’s Embarrassment of Riches, Frieze, #227, April 28 | |
| Blake Oetting, Desire Machines: The Art of Kayode Ojo, Flash Art, #338, Spring | |
| 2021 | Sean Burns, Chloe Stead, Terrence Trouillot, Frieze Editors on the Artists and Trends of 2021, Frieze, December 17 |
| David Rimanelli, Openings: Kayode Ojo, Artforum, November | |
| Chloe Stead, Kayode Ojo’s Synthetic Opulence Taps into Our Consumer Desires, Frieze, June 3 | |
| Balcony Magazine, Issue 01 | |
| Hilton Als, Goings on About Town, The New Yorker, February 1 | |
| Alex Bennett, Shady Optics: Kayode Ojo, Mousse Magazine, January 26 | |
| 2020 | Gruppe Magazin, Issue 02 |
| Self Service Magazine, Issue 53, Winter 2020 | |
| Peter Brock, Naughty Glam, Texte zur Kunst, October 30 | |
| Kayode Ojo at Martos Gallery (online video), Artforum, October 16 | |
| Will Heinrich, Critic’s Notebook, New York Times, October 15 | |
| Luncheon Magazine, Issue 10 | |
| Beate Scheder, Durch den violetten Vorhang, taz, June 9 | |
| Marco Arrigoni, Gli artisti contemporanei under 30 spiegano il linguaggio delle nuove generazioni, Harper’s Bazaar Italia, February 20 | |
| 2019 | Rafael de Cárdenas, Class Act: Kayode Ojo, PIN-UP, Issue 27 |
| Saim Demircan, Kayode Ojo, Flash Art, March 5 | |
| Kenta Murakami, Kayode Ojo, Art in America, January 1 | |
| 2018 | Will Heinrich, What to See in New York Art Galleries This Week: Kayode Ojo, New York Times, December 13 |
| Elizabeth Karp-Evans, Kayode Ojo Revels in the Ready-Made, Cultured Magazine, November 29 | |
| Forbes 30 Under 30: Art & Style, Forbes, November 14 | |
| Kito Nedo, Kito Nedo schaut sich in Berlins Galerien um, taz, November 8 | |
| Whitney Mallett, Kayode Ojo’s Show Has a Male Chastity System and Balenciaga Jeans, Vulture, November 2 | |
| Francesca Gavin, Kayode Ojo, Cura Magazine, Issue 29 | |
| Practice in Print: Kayode Ojo, Studio Magazine (Studio Museum, Harlem), Spring/Summer | |
| Osman Can Yerebakan, In This Artist’s Intimate, Surreal Photos, Southern Gothic Meets Max Fish, Garage, March 26 | |
| Clayton Press, Culture Under Surveillance, Photographs By Zoe Leonard and Kayode Ojo, Forbes, March 19 | |
| 2017 | Lila Pedro, When Conceptual Art Makes You Acutely Aware of Your Body, Hyperallergic, June 9 |
| Become What You Fear, Texte zur Kunst, June | |
| Will Heinrich, What to See in New York Art Galleries This Week: Invisible Man, New York Times, May 25 | |
| 'The space begs. The space weeps': A black buck enters a freshly painted room in Kayode Ojo + Winslow Laroche’s ‘Taye Diggs’, aqnb.com, April 10 |