Open: Wed-Sat 11am-6pm
60 Three Colts Lane, E2 6GQ, London, United Kingdom
Open: Wed-Sat 11am-6pm
Visit
Kayode Ojo: An angel is just a messenger
Maureen Paley, London
Fri 25 Apr 2025 to Sun 8 Jun 2025
60 Three Colts Lane, E2 6GQ Kayode Ojo: An angel is just a messenger
Wed-Sat 11am-6pm
Artist: Kayode Ojo
Maureen Paley presents An angel is just a messenger, the first solo exhibition of Kayode Ojo at the gallery and in the UK.
Artworks
xccoco 28" Long Body Wave Highlight Wigs Skunk Stripe Synthetic Lace Wig Long Wavy Orange with Blonde Highlighted Wigs for Women, ZARA EMBROIDERED SILK DRESS, Rhinestone Jewelry Corporation #17012 - Fringe Hoop Earrings - 5", Hamilton Stands KB400....
101.6 × 144.8 × 101.6 cm
Courtesy the artist and Maureen Paley, London. Photo: Stephen James
Compass, Berlin, 2024
C-print in polished aluminium frame
102.9 × 68.9 × 4 cm
Courtesy the artist and Maureen Paley, London. Photo: Stephen James
TechCraftMaster Disassembled Film Camera | Vintage Camera | Mechanical Film Camera | Camera Teardown | Camera Art Decor | Photographer Gifts; Hnycinj 18 inch Industrial Wall Clock, Non-Ticking Vintage Real Moving Gear Battery Operated Steampunk Decor....
120 × 60 × 32 cm
Courtesy the artist and Maureen Paley, London. Photo: Stephen James
Halukakah Men’s Watch - The King - 18K Gold/Platinum Plated, 40MM Square Dial, Iced Out Wristband, with Cuban Link Chain Necklace and Bracelet Set Optional, Comes in Giftbox, Graflex 4x5 PACEMAKER SPEED GRAPHIC CAMERA with 135mm Optar, Zara GEMSTONE....
100 × 21.8 × 38 cm
Courtesy the artist and Maureen Paley, London. Photo: Stephen James
C-print in polished aluminium frame
52 × 35 × 3 cm
Courtesy the artist and Maureen Paley, London. Photo: Stephen James
McCorquodale, 2025
8 Genuine K9 Crystal Chandelier Clear 6, 8, 10, 10+5, 16+8, 20+10 (15 Arms)
248 × 210 × 80 cm
Courtesy the artist and Maureen Paley, London. Photo: Stephen James
C-print in polished aluminium frame
68.9 × 102.9 × 4 cm
Courtesy the artist and Maureen Paley, London. Photo: Stephen James
Installation Views
His work employs a process of sourcing, collecting and displaying objects. His sculptures reveal how items can confer social status upon their owner, examining the artifice of taste and the aspirations associated with it. Though the sculptures reflect on the markers of excess and accumulation, these carefully staged compositions also embrace the fragility and impractical beauty of their objects.
Drawing materials from fast-fashion websites and online retailers, he integrates the processes of browsing, scrolling, and acquiring into his artistic practice. In his artwork captions, Ojo quotes the original item descriptions as they appeared online, drawing attention to the search-optimised keywords that underpin the algorithmic structures that govern contemporary e-commerce.
Also featured in An angel is just a messenger are examples from an ongoing series of photographs taken in nightlife settings that capture the fleeting interactions, opulence, and eroticism of these spaces. His subjects appear at varying levels of identifiability, commenting on the levels of transparency and the access we are afforded.
The title of the exhibition is drawn from a quote by the artist's father, a devout Evangelical Christian. “My dad says an angel is just a messenger” Ojo commented, “And what is a contemporary artist if not a messenger?”1
Kayode Ojo (b. Cookeville, Tennessee, 1990) lives and works in New York. He is represented by Sweetwater in Berlin who recently presented his solo exhibition Me & U (2024). A year prior, 52 Walker in New York displayed a solo presentation of his work, Eden (2023).
Works by Kayode Ojo are held in the institutional collections of CCS Hessel Museum of Art, New York; MOCA Museum of Contemporary Arts, Los Angeles; Museum Brandhorst, Munich; Stedelijk, Amsterdam; and Studio Museum in Harlem, New York.
1 Simon Wu, Kayode Ojo’s Embarrassment of Riches, in Frieze, Issue 227, April 2022.
