Oluseye Ogunlesi (b. 1986, London, UK) is a Nigerian Canadian artist.
Using “diasporic debris” — a term used to describe the artifacts collected on his trans-Atlantic travels — Oluseye traces Blackness through its multifaceted migrations and manifestations. These transformational objects are recast into sculpture, performance, and photography; invoking his personal narratives within a broader examination of Black Diasporic culture and African spiritual traditions.
Oluseye has exhibited at the Art Gallery of Ontario (2025), the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (2025), the Museum of the African Diaspora, San Fransisco (2024), Daniel Faria Gallery, Toronto (2024), Southern Guild Gallery, Cape Town (2023), the Gardiner Museum, Toronto (2023), the Buffalo AKG Art Museum (2022), Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto (2021), and the Agnes Etherington Art Center, Queen’s University, Kingston (2021). In 2022, his first public art commission, Black Ark, was installed in Toronto’s Ashbridge’s Bay Park, and in Fall 2024 will embark on a tour of the Maritimes with stops at the Owens Art Gallery, New Brunswick, The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and the Africville heritage site in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Photo: Josh Rille