Kayode Ojo: Black Swan Moan
Balice Hertling is pleased to announce Black Swan Moan, its second solo exhibition by New York–based artist Kayode Ojo.
Working across sculpture, installation, painting, video, and photography, Kayode Ojo explores seductive moments in consumerist culture, analyzing status symbols, social reputation, and the iconography of desire. Composed of ready-made items of leisure, luxury, and jewelry, his sleek sculptures move between the visual languages of delicate minimalism and glittering opulence, revealing the transformative power of material objects and their ability to transport their owners through dimensions of time, place, and social status.
Sourcing his materials from fast-fashion websites and online shopping hubs, Ojo weaves the familiar rhythms of searching, scrolling, purchasing, and receiving into a nimble artistic practice. Working instinctively, with precision and without adhesives, he refashions these items into poetic yet perverse arrangements that expose the mechanics of social aspiration. Replete with sequins, chrome finishes, and reflective surfaces, his sculptures are conceived with an eye for staging and evoke a drama of looking—a kind of voyeurism or scopophilia. His captions, drawn from product descriptions, read like deadpan consumerist poetry. Whether arranging chandeliers, perfume bottles, or evening dresses, Ojo transforms mass-produced materials into objects that radiate glamour, excess, and intrigue.
Kayode Ojo (b. 1990, Cookeville, USA) lives and works in New York. He graduated from the School of Visual Arts, New York, in 2012. His first solo exhibition with Balice Hertling took place in 2018. Recent solo exhibitions include An angel is just a messenger (Maureen Paley, London, 2025); Me & U (Sweetwater, Berlin, 2024); and EDEN (David Zwirner's 52 Walker space, New York, 2023). He has also participated in group exhibitions such as KALEIDOSCOPE at Espace Niemeyer (Paris, 2024), Kestner Gesellschaft (Hannover, 2022), Greater New York at MoMA PS1 (New York, 2021 - 2022), and the Athens Biennial (Athens, 2021), among many others.
