Olalekan Jeyifous: Even In Arcadia

Join us at Art Omi on Saturday, Mar. 16 from 3-5 PM for the Opening Reception. Advanced registration is appreciated.

RSVP – HERE

Art Omi
1405 Co Rte 22
Ghent, NY 12075

On view March 16 through June 2, 2024.

Amid evolving environmental and cultural shifts, there emerges a space for thoughtful yet whimsical reflections on an increasingly challenging reality. The tensions between our natural and built world—amplified by intensifying climate conditions—form the backdrop for Olalekan Jeyifous: Even in Arcadia… Drawing inspiration from the Arcadian myth, the exhibition juxtaposes picturesque portrayals of idyllic pastoral life with glimpses of a retro-futurist urban protopia set within the Hudson Valley. In leveraging both the artistic and literary motifs of Arcadia, the exhibition engages us in considering the possibilities and challenges posed by an inventive world-making process that is simultaneously shaped by the polished echoes of historical ideals, contemporary socio-political anxieties, and the uncertainty of our future aspirations.

Arcadia, historically regarded as an emblem of bucolic tranquility and unspoiled wilderness, is creatively reinterpreted in the eclectic assemblage of photomontages, an experimental video, and small-scale sculptures on view. The works artfully weave the promising ideals of solar/salvage punk—themes of renewable energy, environmental sustainability, the imaginative repurposing of post-industrial detritus, and the transformative re-wilding of [ex]urban spaces—into an irreverently evocative fever dream.

Jeyifous’ pluralistic relationship to futurity is informed by a protopian growth model. Rejecting the fixed paradigms of utopian thought, the exhibition instead imagines a multiplicity of possible future scenarios while recognizing the continuous, messy, and iterative process necessary to move toward more equitable societal structures. Through this protopian lens, Jeyifous’ work interrogates the potentialities of harmonizing reconstituted technological advancements alongside ecological stewardship.

Olalekan Jeyifous: Even in Arcadia… is curated by Julia van den Hout, Senior Architecture Curator, with Guy Weltchek, Curatorial Assistant.