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Free exhibition
Curated by Mark Sealy
This exhibition is in currently in development at Autograph
Free, timed tickets will be available nearer the exhibition start date
My reality is not the same as that which often presented to us in western photography. As an African working in a western medium, I try to bring out the spiritual dimensions in my pictures so that concepts of reality become ambiguous and are opened to re-interpretation. This requires what Yoruba priests and artists call a technique of ecstasy.
Rotimi Fani-Kayode, 1988 In a space where the barriers between difference and fantasy are dissolved, Rotimi Fani-Kayode’s photographs are a spirited exploration of culture, intimacy, desire and pain. From 1983 until his death in 1989, the artist lived and worked in Brixton, where his studio transcended into a sanctuary visualising black queer self-expression.
A prominent figure in the Black British art scene, Fani-Kayode’s staged and crafted portraits playfully beckoning the viewer to embrace new possibilities of the self. The Studio – Staging Desire is the culmination of meticulous research into the artist’s archives, presenting never-before-seen works.
The studio enabled Fani-Kayode to live, be free, find love and express himself amongst London’s fluid, racial multiverse. With an emphasis on gesture, pose and a sense of longing the photographs he produced reveal a cosmos of signs and symbols to understand the dynamics of desire.
His transgressive and radical vision broke through boundaries of art history and Yoruba spirituality. These photographs reveal what it meant for Fani-Kayode to negotiate the status of ‘outsider’, turning this into the generative force that has defined the artist’s practice.
Rotimi Fani Kayode (born 1955, Lagos, Nigeria – died 1989, London, UK) is a widely recognised and seminal figure in contemporary art. At the core of his practice is a critical emphasis on the cultural politics of difference. During a tragically brief six-year career, Fani-Kayode produced a complex body of work exploring complex themes of sexuality, spirituality, identity and the self.
Fani-Kayode was born into a prominent Yoruba family before moving to England following the 1966 outbreak of civil war in Nigeria. He studied at Georgetown University and the Pratt Institute in the USA, before settling permanently in London in 1983 where he lived and worked until his early death from a short and illness on 21 December 1989.
His photographs have been exhibited internationally since 1985, with numerous solo and group exhibitions in Europe, America and Africa. In 2003, his work featured in the African Pavilion at the 50th Venice Biennale, Italy and today his works are represented in major public and private collectors including Autograph (UK); Brighton Museum and Art Gallery (UK); Carnegie Museum of Art (USA); Centraal Museum (NL); Hood Museum of Art (USA); Hutchins Centre for Africa & African American Research, Harvard University (USA); Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art (FN); Krannert Art Museum (USA); Museum of Fine Arts Houston (USA); The Phyllis and Ross Escallette Collection, Chapman University (USA); Solomon R. Guggenheim (USA); Tate (UK); Victoria & Albert Museum (UK); The Walther Collection (GR / USA); The Wedge Collection (CA), amongst others.
A recent episode of BBC Radio 4’s History of Art programme was dedicated to his work, which aired in March 2018. Many of Fani-Kayode’s photographs were created in collaboration with his late partner Alex Hirst, collected in the posthumous publication Rotimi Fani-Kayode and Alex Hirst: Photographs.
Alongside his practice as an artist, Fani-Kayode became a founding signatory and one of the first chairs of Autograph, London. 2019 marked the 30th anniversary of the artists untimely death and a major retrospective opened at The Wexner Centre for Arts, Ohio opened in September 2024. His work is preserved and represented by Autograph, London.
A new limited edition print to raise funds for Autograph's work
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Collection highlight examining the politics of desire and the black male body
Read more
Evan Ifekoya reflects on the photographic work of Rotimi Fani-Kayode
Read blog post | 8 min readCollection highlight of Fani-Kayode's personal exploration of desire, diaspora and visibility
Read moreJason Okundaye on the significance of queer erotica in the archives of Black cultural memory
Read blog post | 4 min read
Ajamu's first self-portrait in more than a decade responds to the legacy of Fani-Kayode
View artist commission 
Everyone is welcome at Autograph. Planning a visit? Have a look at our Visit Us page to find out more about getting to the gallery, accessibility and more.
Autograph welcomes people with all types of disabilities.
Our building and entrance is step free. A wheelchair accessible lift goes to all floors.
The first exhibition of these remarkable portraits capturing the rich style and joyous spirit of Lagos in the 1970s.
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Banner image: Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Untitled, 1988. © Rotimi Fani- Kayode. Courtesy of Autograph, London
Images: 1) Sunil Gupta, Portrait of Rotimi Fani-Kayode. © and courtesy Sunil Gutpa. 2) Autograph, London. Photograph by Zoë Maxwell. 3) Abi Morocco Photos, Aina Street, Shogunle, Lagos [detail], 1979. Courtesy Lagos Studio Archives. © Abi Morocco Photos.
Autograph is a place to see things differently. Since 1988, we have championed photography that explores issues of race, identity, representation, human rights and social justice, sharing how photographs reflect lived experiences and shape our understanding of ourselves and others.
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