ExhibitionJune 24–October 3, 2025
Nifemi Ogunro: The First Act
Join us for the Opening Reception on Tuesday, June 24 from 6–8pm.
The International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) presents Nifemi Ogunro: The First Act, the designer and sculptor’s first institutional solo exhibition, curated by Paul Galloway. Featuring a group of new works crafted from wood, Ogunro’s material investigations manifest as compelling contradictions: furniture that is not just furniture, sculpture that defies conventional formalist readings.
Embracing an older interpretation of the word “manufacture,” which originally referenced something handmade, Ogunro invites the viewer to reconsider the social implications of working directly with materials that were once, like us, organic beings. If we think of a forest as a community, is it possible to find fellowship among these transmuted forms? Ogunro ponders questions like this while shaping the wood, with techniques that range from rough chainsaw work to finely executed joinery. The act of becoming is a focus for Ogunro, as she explores the tensions between beauty and discomfort that accompany all processes of change.
Discarding the typical design imperatives of function, comfort, and utility, Ogunro highlights the formal qualities of the body in absentia via objects that suggest vacancies. One work, Child’s Play, evokes the movement of the body through its seesaw form, furniture that requires two people to perform its oscillating function. Sinking reverses this, suggesting a body at ease, albeit on the unforgiving surface of bent plywood. Aiming for her pieces to be “as bare-boned and legible as possible,” Ogunro questions the way we build our environments to accommodate our corporeal perspective. In our quest to make the world more comfortable we divorce ourselves from risk, minimizing our chances of physical and psychological injury. Ogunro reminds us that to be challenged is an invitation, just as a tree pruned of a limb offers an opportunity for new growth.
Brooklyn-based designer and sculptor Nifemi Ogunro (b. 1995, Lyon, France) describes her works as functional sculptures. Her design process gives equal consideration for both the bodies that interact with these objects and the forms of the objects themselves. While wood is her primary medium, Ogunro draws inspiration from photography, film, performance, and movement. She has exhibited work at Side Gallery, Barcelona, Spain; and Marta Gallery, Los Angeles, CA among other venues, and her work is in collections including at the Denver Art Museum, Colorado. Ogunro is a recipient of The New York Community Trust’s Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund Residency at ISCP.
Paul Galloway is the Senior Collection Specialist for the Architecture & Design Department at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). During his time at MoMA he has curated Designer’s Choice: Norman Teague—Jam Sessions and co-curated the exhibitions Never Alone: Video Games and Other Interactive Design and Automania. Galloway has authored and contributed to multiple MoMA publications, including Shigetaka Kurita: Emoji, as well as catalogs from the Fondation Louis Vuitton and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
Nifemi Ogunro: The First Act is curated by Paul Galloway, Senior Collection Specialist, Department of Architecture and Design, The Museum of Modern Art. It is supported by The New York Community Trust’s Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund; Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso; Hartfield Foundation; James Rosenquist Foundation; Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation; New York City Council District 34; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature; van Beuren Charitable Foundation; William Talbott Hillman Foundation; and Woodman Family Foundation.
Participating Residents
