Kokopelli Gallery in Ikoyi, Lagos, has marked its fifth anniversary with Epignosis I: Our Story First, a commemorative exhibition built around a “call and response” structure that stages a dialogue between an established artist and a new generation of African creators. The show pairs a solo presentation by veteran artist Gbolahan Ayoola with new works from five artists in the gallery’s inaugural Once Upon a Time (O.U.T.) Residency, creating a conversational display of stories, memory and technique across generations.
Founded in 2021, Kokopelli has positioned itself as a space where storytelling is treated as both discipline and form of knowledge, challenging conventional gallery models through curated shows, talks and community programmes. For its fifth anniversary, founder and curator Dare Herald framed the milestone not only as celebration but as a statement on the need for more infrastructure; residencies, mentorship and exhibition spaces, to sustain African artistic practice.
“The fact that we could pull it off, that’s something that is so fulfilling and worth being grateful for,” Herald said of the residency and exhibition, noting that much of the programme was funded from his own resources due to limited external support. He stressed that when visitors come to Nigeria and other African countries, they look for galleries and museums to understand local culture, and the scarcity of such spaces “doesn’t reflect well on us”.
The “call”: Gbolahan Ayoola’s solo presentation
The “call” in Epignosis I is a solo body of work by Gbolahan Ayoola, whose practice over more than two decades has been rooted in anthropology, urban experience and what he describes as “human archaeology”. This is the idea that individuals carry layered traces of collective history, cultural memory and unseen spiritual forces.
Working largely in acrylic, charcoal, lead and ink, Ayoola presents monumental, enigmatic figures rendered in dense black pigment and marked with incisions, scratches and gestural inscriptions that read like excavation marks or ritual symbols.
These figures function less as portraits than as vessels of experience, their surfaces suggesting archives shaped by time, belief and historical tension, while surrounding fields of colour, built through repeated dotted textures, operate as energetic terrains akin to cosmological diagrams or archaeological maps. Titles such as Isipaya: The Revelation of Buried Identity I and II, What the Black Conceals I and II, Stratum of Self I and II, Pavement Beneath the Skin I and II, No Chain Is Visible I and II and Unearth Origins underscore his ongoing investigation into buried identities and the strata of selfhood.
Herald noted that the exhibition’s premise has precedent. Early in his career in the 2000s, Ayoola exhibited alongside master artist Tola Wewe, and now, more than twenty years on, his mature practice provides the “established voice” in this intergenerational conversation.
The “response”: Works from the O.U.T. Residency
The “response” comprises new works by artist from the inaugural O.U.T. Residency, which ran from 24 August to 6 September 2026 on Banana Island, Ikoyi. The cohort—Victor Anachuna (Nigeria), Falhone Ogoun (Benin Republic), Estifanos Gashaw (Ethiopia), Vurzie Kimnaton (Nigeria) and Putin Bempong (Ghana)—was selected from more than 250–450 applications from across Africa, and spent two weeks in field research and studio work with mentors and facilitators.
The residency took the artists beyond the studio to historic sites on Lagos Island, the Brazilian Quarters and Badagry, feeding their eyes and minds with the textures of colonial architecture, slave-trade history and everyday urban life. Back at the residence, they participated in facilitated sessions with established artists and mentors, becoming the founding “OUTliers” whose works articulate cross‑cultural currents, post‑colonial themes and processes of cultural crystallisation.
Gallery manager and in‑house consulting curator Sadiq Ajibola Williams, who also served as programme director for the O.U.T. Residency, praised the young artists for their willingness to “put their ego aside, absorb, listen and, with all humility, learn.” He noted that selecting the five from hundreds of applications was difficult, but affirmed: “We believe we picked the right people. They have a voracious appetite for knowledge‑seeking and are skilled at channelling everything learnt into their works.”
Williams added that the experience has “opened up a side” of himself where he would love to continue this work, with an eye to establishing a succession plan so that “what we’ve built can continue beyond us.” The residency and exhibition together underscore the importance of process, apprenticeship, mentorship and tutelage, and the impact these can have on talented young artists and professionals.
The anniversary programme was supported by The Macallan, Qoray Mobility, Igiehon Museum Project, Dala and Escudo Rojo, with the three‑day celebration running from 10 to 12 September 2026. The programme opened with a private dinner on 10 September, followed by a private view on 11 September and a public opening on 12 September, with the exhibition running at Kokopelli Gallery, 17 Ademola Street, off Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, until 8 November 2026.
No fewer than 47 artworks, including sketches and drawings produced during the residency, were exhibited alongside Ayoola’s solo works, offering a dense visual archive of the two‑week creative process. By bringing two generations into dialogue through this celebratory exhibition, Kokopelli Gallery reaffirms the value of art education and mentorship alongside cultural conservation in artistic practice, while insisting that “for us to have pride in ourselves, we need to know our history and our story.”
Credit: Vangauard
