Damilola Odusote

Damilola Odusote's artworks are a running narrative of his conscious and subconscious mind which challenge the perception of everyday life with wit and humour. Although he predominantly works in graphic ink, he takes pride in process and method, and loves to experiment with more unconventional materials such as concrete and moulded Perspex for visual depth in his art. Rarely sketching first, Damilola’s artworks are organic and grow on the surface as he creates them. He is influenced by the likes of MC Escher and David Shrigley for the detail and humour in their thought-provoking works. He frequently experiments with the aesthetics of geometry and texture to contextualise issues rooted in politics, history, race, and culture.

To expand his creative repertoire, Damilola draws inspiration from everywhere and everything, not least in his parallel career as a professional dancer which he likens to his artistic practice as similarly requiring technique, training, research and expressivity, and where movement feeds creation. In particular, he finds that dance choreography mirrors his art, both requiring the same degree of intricacy, logic and a flowing narrative. Damilola continually refines his style with every new skillset he pursues.

Damilola graduated from Camberwell College of Arts with a BA Hons degree. He has a loyal client base in Europe, Asia and America, having exhibited all around the world. In the last ten years, he has been in high demand for large scale mural work with commissions from Google, YouTube, Microsoft, Converse, UBS, LinkedIn, NEXT, Caplin and Brixton House.

Call Me Back! consists of two components – a mural and Damilola’s first public art commission which is a reconstruction inspired by a BT phone booth from the 1990s. Both works oscillate between past and present, provoking participants to look back into their own pasts posing the question “What would you say to your younger self and how would your younger self respond?”

Project photo: Damilola Odusote at Brixton House, photo by Gbolahan Obisesan.