Sola Olulode

Sola Olulode’s (b.1996) dreamy queer visions explore embodiments of British Black Womxn and Non-Binary Folx. Working with various mediums of dyeing, batik, wax, ink, pastel, oil bar, and paint she develops textural canvases that explore the fluidities of identities. Drawing inspiration from lived experience, friends, and cultural reference points to centre Black Queer Womxn, Olulode emphasises the integral need of representation and celebration of queer intimacies.

Her utopian scenes celebrate relationships that transcend crude notions of queer sexuality, her figures exemplify the warm embrace of queer love, a temporal space to bathe in memories of intimacies abundant with scenes of profoundly deep tender connections. Envisaging a world reflective of the celebration of her own identities Olulode brings to life representation and visibility of Black Queer lived experiences. Her figures represent multifaceted complex individuals and the energy they hold in their bodies relishing in a boundless temporality of self-validation and joy.

Olulode received a BA in Fine Art Painting from the University of Brighton in 2018. Recent solo exhibitions include Could You Be Love, SAPAR Contemporary. New York, United States (2022); Berntson Bhattacharjee at 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London (2022); Where the Ocean Meets the Beach, V.O Curations, London (2020). Recent group exhibitions include: To be Held, Carl Freedman Gallery. Margate, Kent (2023); Reverie, Dada Gallery. Lagos, Nigeria (2023); On Love, HOME by Ronan McKenzie. London (2022); MacArthur Park, Cromwell Place. London (2022); An Infinity of Traces, Lisson Gallery. London (2021); Twilights of the Idols, Alice Black Gallery. London (2020); Blacklisted: An Indefinite Revolution, Christie’s Education (2020); In the Palm of Your Hands, V&A Museum, London (2020).