Landmark survey features nearly 200 works by the late, groundbreaking photographer

JAN. 21, 2025 (VANCOUVER, CANADA) — The Polygon Gallery presents the Canadian premiere of Rotimi Fani-Kayode’s Tranquility of Communion from Feb. 28–May 25, 2025. The exhibition is a major survey of the brief but influential career of the late British-Nigerian artist, whose photography explored themes of same-sex, multiracial love with a spiritual reverence drawn from Yoruba cosmology and an uncompromising sense of daring inspired by queer activism. Organized by Autograph (London) and Wexner Center for the Arts (Columbus), the exhibition brings together his most celebrated photographs along with previously unseen works.

“Rotimi Fani-Kayode’s photographs have been seen internationally for decades and are represented in major collections around the world, but this is the first time such a comprehensive body of his work will be presented in Canada,” says Dr. Mark Sealy, the exhibition’s curator and Executive Director of Autograph. “Some of these images are 40 years old, yet still feel incredibly contemporary. Fani-Kayode’s work not only reflects a specific period of time and a moment of queer life, it also opens up new possibilities for us to exist in this world. There is much that we can still learn from his prescient vision.”

Born into a prominent Nigerian family that emigrated to London in the 1960s in search of political refuge, Fani-Kayode channeled his multifaceted identity and outsider status into a bold photographic practice that earned him recognition as a prominent figure within the Black British art scene. His work left an enduring influence on contemporary art despite a career that was tragically cut short by his death in 1989, at the age of 34.

The exhibition title, Tranquility of Communion, is drawn from an essay written by the artist for the British photography magazine Ten.8. The text was published in 1988, a time when the AIDS crisis, racism, and homophobia were coming to a head in Thatcher’s Britain:

“Perhaps they would recognize my smallpox Gods, my transsexual priests, my images of desirable Black men in a state of sexual frenzy, or the tranquility of communion with the spirit world. Perhaps they have far less fear of encountering the darkest of Africa’s dark secrets by which some of us seek to gain access to the soul.”
— Rotimi Fani-Kayode, “Traces of Ecstasy,” Ten.8 Magazine, No 28: Rage & Desire, 1988

The exhibition is presented in four distinct chapters: “Theatre” showcases large-scale colour photographs from his Nothing Left to Lose (Bodies of Experience) series. “Archive” provides a rare glimpse of Fani-Kayode’s experimental explorations of Polaroids, hand-coloured vintage prints, and drawings. “Studio” is a behind-the-scenes look at the artist’s contact sheets. And “Museum” features an extensive collection of his gelatin silver prints. Taken together, Tranquility of Communion celebrates the artist’s prolific and genre-defying legacy.

Fani-Kayode’s work was most recently seen at The Polygon Gallery as part of the As We Rise: Photography from the Black Atlantic exhibition in 2023, which presented highlights from the Wedge Collection.

For more information, visit thepolygon.ca/exhibition/rotimi-fani-kayode-tranquility-of-communion.

Organized by Autograph (London) and the Wexner Center for the Arts (Columbus), and curated by Autograph’s Director Dr. Mark Sealy. This exhibition is part of the 2025 Capture Photography Festival Feature Exhibition Program.

Opening celebration
Thursday, Feb. 27 at 7pm
RSVP here

Guided tours
Every Saturday at 1:30pm

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Press kit and photos
bit.ly/TranquilityofCommunion

Press contact
Ines Min
604 440 0791
ines@inesmin.com

Banner Image: Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Untitled (Hear No Evil See No Evil Speak No Evil), 1985. Courtesy of Autograph (London).