PRECIOUS
OKOYOMON

Through dynamics that dismantle notions of decomposition, death, and negation as final ontological endpoints, Okoyomon reestablishes systems of life and thought by proposing sites of rebirth and pleasure precisely where structural violence resides. The creation of landscapes, gardens, and ecosystems — while addressing environmental catastrophes and natural disasters brought on by human activity — invites attunement to natural intelligence, to often-overlooked pleasures, and to teachings on revolution, revitalization, and adaptation. Their artistic practice unfolds through sculptural topographies, immersive installations, drawings, paintings, animations, poetry, spoken word gatherings, and communal feasts.

Durante sua residência na casa onze, em diálogo com a paisagem natural e a vegetação do Cerrado, com o Parque do Ibirapuera e com os jardins concebidos por Roberto Burle Marx, Precious Okoyomon elaborou um conjunto de entidades fabuladas, materializadas em croquis e esculturas. Esses seres, que oscilam entre o espectral e o topológico — lembrando tanto fantasmagorias quanto desníveis de paisagem —, habitam os jardins imersivos que Okoyomon constrói, como em sua instalação para a 36ª Bienal de São Paulo, “Sun of Consciousness. God Blow Thru Me – Love Break Me” (2025). Nela, pequenos entes que condensam assombro e ternura, finitude e ludicidade, exploram a hipótese de que elementos da paisagem possam portar subjetividade — movimento que também atravessa as flores que Okoyomon desenha em pastel oleoso sobre papel e anima em seus trabalhos digitais.

Precious Okoyomon (b. 1993) is a Nigerian-American poet and artist. Their work considers the natural world, histories of migration and racialization, and the pure pleasures of everyday life. They have had one-person exhibitions at the LUMA Westbau, Zurich, Switzerland; the Museum Für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany; Performance Space New York, New York, New York; the Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, Colorado; The Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Madrid Foundation, Madrid, Spain; The Herbert F. Johnson Museum, Ithaca, New York; Kunsthaus Bregenz, Bregenz, Austria. They were included in the Baltic Triennial 13, Tallinn, Estonia; the 58th Belgrade Biennial, Belgrade, Serbia; the 59th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy; the 2022 Okayama Art Summit, Okayama, Japan; the 11th Sequences Biennial, Reykjavik, Iceland; the 2023 Thailand Biennial, Chiang Rai, Thailand, as well as in group exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, UK; LUMA Westbau, Zurich, Switzerland; Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin, Germany; LUMA Arles, Arles, France; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Nigerian Pavillion, 60th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy; Fondation Beyeler, Basel, Switzerland; Kunsthaus Bregenz, Bregenz, Austria. Okoyomon’s work is included in the permanent collection of the Museum Für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany and LUMA Arles, Arles, France. Okoyomon was the 2021 recipient of the Frieze Art Fair Artist Award, as well as the 2021 Chanel Next Art Prize. In 2024, But Did You Die?, their second book of poetry, was co-published by the Serpentine and Wonder Press.