Fani-Kayode escaped the Nigerian Civil War as a child and later attended Georgetown University. Influenced by his Yoruba upbringing and Mapplethorpe, he developed a body of stylized photographic portraits of Black men that explore the tension between sexuality, race, religion and culture before he died prematurely, at the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Organized by Light Work, in partnership with Autograph ABP, and curated by Mark Sealy and Renée Mussai, this exhibition includes additional works and texts organized by Professor Ian Bourland to further illustrate Fani-Kayode’s engagement with a tumultuous era.