Power, hope and elegance: the Black male figure takes centre stage, claiming the prominence long denied to it.

Kayode Ejioye (b. 1985, Ikole-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria) is a painter based in Lagos. His path began early: while still in secondary school, driven by a sprouting passion for creativity, he took up an apprenticeship at Momsam Publicity in Lagos, learning sign-writing and screen printing after school hours. He went on to study Drawing and Painting at the Ultimate Art Gallery and ArtPoint Studio in Lagos, and completed his formal education at the Department of Art and Industrial Design of Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu, earning first his OND certificate in General Art and then, returning to the same institution, his HND.

Ejioye's painting is a declaration of self-inclusion. His subjects, predominantly Black male figures, are depicted in positions of power, force, hope, beauty and elegance, styled with contemporary fashion sensibility: bold portraiture in which dress, posture and gaze construct an image of dignity and cultural pride. For the artist, the Black body must take centre stage and claim equal prominence within the visual world, a conviction he states without hesitation in his artist statement and pursues canvas after canvas, in a practice devoted to acrylic on canvas with a growing scale and compositional ambition.

A full-time studio artist, Ejioye has taken part in group exhibitions and auctions in Nigeria and internationally. His works were presented in the online exhibitions "Collagist: Focus on Kayode" and "Broken Shackles" at TAAG Gallery, in New York's Chelsea art district (2022), which represents him on Artsy, and in "Genesis" at Okomoko Art Gallery, Lagos (2022). In Europe his work has been shown at Black Liquid Art Gallery in "Beyond the Surface: The Inner World of Portraits" (Viterbo, 2024), an exhibition investigating African portraiture beyond the visible surface, and in "After the Fire. Memories, Bodies and Conflicts in Contemporary African Art", curated by Antonella Pisilli (Rome, 2026). Earlier appearances include "The Affordable Art Exhibition" at Mydrim Gallery, Lagos (2018), the Signature and Sogal art auctions at Signature Art Gallery, Lagos (2015, 2016), "Oreze: The King's Crown" at the Cultural Centre, Onitsha (2014), and "Young Shall Grow" at Heritage Bank, Lagos (2013). His works have appeared at auction internationally, including the Sogal Modern African Art Auction (2025), and are held in galleries and private collections in Nigeria and beyond. He lives and works in Lagos.