Tayo Olayode (b. 1970) is one of Nigeria's most exciting experimental artists. Olayode graduated in 1998 from Ahmadu Bello University with a BA in Fine Art. His oeuvre includes paintings, sculptures, tapestries and installations of large scale sculptures in public spaces in Nigeria, utilizing a diverse range of media including disgarded objects such as rubber slippers, charcoal and metals. Olayode explores material choice and methodhology with an emphasis on line and color, using an aesthetic language that spans abstraction, realism and surrealism.
As a young artist, he was privileged to have been mentored by leading African artists including professors Abayomi Barber, Jerry Buahri, and Ablade Glover, as well as celebrated realist, Abiodun Olaku. Olayode's work has been featured in yearly local and international auctions and exhibitions, and his pieces are owned by numerous important private and institutional collections.
Olayode has co-curated exhibitions in Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya. He was the winner of the Terra Kultur/Ford Foundation art award for the Best Young Artist in Nigeria (2006) after which he spent three months in Ghana under the tutelage of Professor Ablade Glover. Olayode is also the recipient of the Arthouse Foundation Scholarship which allowed him to take part in a residency at the acclaimed Vermont Studio Cultural Exchange Program in 2014. Olayode lives and works in Lagos, Nigeria.