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Tolu Olasoji | Artist

@peoplevsystems

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878

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on: in the wind @arthouseproductions, @pacstudiojc, @mora_museum
NJ/NY

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My photodocumentary work “Grey Pride” is showing @themonmouthmuseum, accompanying the @smithsonian @sitesexhibitions traveling exhibition titled: “The Bias Inside Us”. The thought-provoking exhibition explores the concept of bias; how it shapes our perspectives, interactions, and society as a whole.

Alongside 55 other artists across New Jersey, honored to have my art showing in the exhibition, curated by @bfly777.

The exhibition runs through September 7, and I’m honored that it earned an “Honorable Mention” from the jurors. This was my third exhibition as an artist and documentary photographer, and the good feeling never gets old.

Photo Caption: On Saturday, August 24, 2024, Democratic organizers listen to Pro-Palestine supporters at Jersey City Pride. The Democratic organizers, adorned with Pride flags painted on their skin and rainbow-themed merchandise, faced demands from Pro-Palestine supporters—many from the LGBTQIA+ community—that party presidential nominee Kamala Harris distance herself from Joe Biden’s stance on Gaza before they’d consider voting for her in the upcoming 2024 US Elections.

#DocumentaryPhotography #GreyPride #BiasInsideUs #SmithsonianExhibition #NewJerseyArtists #PhotoJournalism #IdentityPolitics #MonmouthMuseum #LGBTQIA #PoliticalArt #ContemporaryPhotography #JerseyCityArtist #NYCPhotographer #NYCArtist taken in Monmouth Museum by @peoplevsystems

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a year ago

This is your invite. I’d love to see you soon.

I’m glad to share that I’ll be part of On Purpose, the 25th Anniversary Signature Group Exhibition of Newark Arts Festival 2026 (@newarkarts), at @paulrobesongalleries @expressnewark, curated by @adrienneewheeler.

I’ll be showing Everything Comes Back to Bilal, Vol. 2, from my documentary work about a Black-owned barbershop in Morgantown, West Virginia, and the community that gathered around its owner, Brooklyn native Bilal Adams.

I spent months returning to the shop, often several times a week and sometimes until closing. What kept drawing me back was how one space could hold so much: ritual, care, conversation, and belonging, while making Black communal life visible in a place where it might otherwise remain peripheral.

My process combines long-term documentary observation with research, writing, interviewing, and sustained conversations with the people and communities I photograph. I spend extended periods of time in and around the spaces I document, allowing trust and familiarity, to shape the work.

Opening Reception
Wednesday, October 7
6–10 PM
Paul Robeson Galleries, Express Newark
54 Halsey Street, Newark

On view October 7–31, 2026

Free to attend; RSVP required.
RSVP via link in bio.

Everything Comes Back to Bilal, Vol. 2
2022
Archival pigment print
Edition of 20

#NewarkArtsFestival #NAF2026 #NewarkArts #DocumentaryPhotography #PeopleVsSystems taken in Paul Robeson Galleries by @peoplevsystems

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17 days ago

Cartas to My Kin 🇵🇦🤝🇺🇸opened this past weekend and we could not be happier. Artists and friends traveled from near and far in support of a project aiming to unite us through curiosity and kindred energy despite the thousands of miles in between us.

Cartas to My Kin is on display Saturdays, 12-6PM, through October 3rd. taken in Jersey City, NJ by @peoplevsystems

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a month ago

I’m showing work at two exhibitions this weekend in Jersey City:
friday @mora_museum 6-9p; showing new pieces here—all available for collection!
swipe for saturday.

see y’all there.

#exhibition #jerseycity #peoplevsystems

saturday @pacstudiojc 6-10p; debuting a new body of work here.
🇺🇸 🇵🇦

come through.

#exhibition #jerseycity #peoplevsystems taken in Jersey City, New Jersey by @peoplevsystems

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a month ago

Go see Cartas to my Kin @pacstudiojc (w/ @theframed.store)

More exhibition news—and another Jersey City opening:

This Saturday, I’ll be sharing a piece from (and debuting) my new series “Can U Hear the Birds Singing…” as part of CARTAS TO MY KIN (LETTERS TO MY KIN): A Binational Exhibition of Photography & Digital Illustration, presented by @pacstudiojc and @theframed.store . Co-curated by Julie Mostafa & Jonathan Parker.

Through photography and digital illustrations, the exhibition invites artists from New Jersey and Panama to look beyond differences and physical borders, and explore the similarities that unites us as humans.

Work Statement

Can U Hear the Birds Singing… is a documentary photography project reflecting on immigrant life and the difficulty of accessing ordinary quiet. Made across parks and public spaces in New Jersey, the work considers how the sociopolitical, and the constant demands of rebuilding a life can make stillness increasingly difficult to inhabit.

The project observes quiet landscapes and places where people gather, rest, wait, or experience nature. These settings become sites of reflection, asking what it means to remain present when survival often competes with attention. This photograph was made at Fort Lee Historic Park overlooking the Hudson River, a place associated with pause, recreation, and reflection. The project attends to small gestures of stillness, suggesting that the ability to notice beauty, hear nature, or experience quiet is itself shaped by the conditions in which we live.

OPENING RECEPTION
Saturday, August 22 | 6–10 PM

ON VIEW
August 22–October 3, 2026

PAC Studio + Gallery
193 Monticello Avenue
Jersey City, NJ 07304

Free and open to the public.

I’d love for you to encounter my new work, and experience together the dialogue that ensues.

#CartasToMyKin #CanUHearTheBirdsSinging #JerseyCityArts #DocumentaryPhotography #peoplevsystems by @peoplevsystems

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a month ago

appreciation to everyone who braved the frigid weather and made it out for my group exhibition Black is the New Black, alongside these wonderful artists @danstuckie @tenjin_ikeda @qrcky, Somina Mosaku, Kortez, beautifully curated by the renowned Bryant Small @bfly777. I had works from the series “Grey Pride” and “Everything Comes to Bilal”, and the engagement was inspiring. Thanks to people who have gone afterwards, and every keen supporter of Black artists and Black arts.

personally, I enjoyed seeing my worlds colide. folks from several facets — and side quests 🙂‍↔️— of my life breaking bread over great art.

the exhibition is up @ahpgallery through the end of the month. Make time to go see it, and if you find yourself in Downtown Jersey City, stop by.

Happy Black History Month.
#peoplevsystems #documentaryphotographer #BlackistheNewBlack #BlackArtists

photo credits
slides 5, 6, 8, 14, 15: @tenjin_ikeda
slides 12: @qrcky taken in Art House Productions by @peoplevsystems

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7 months ago

Over the past week, I’ve been moving across Jersey City as the resident documentarian for @in7videoresidency, following artists as they transformed the city into a backdrop, collaborator, and source of inspiration.

I watched ideas take shape in cemeteries (hello, poison ivy💀), studios, parks, streets, and improvised production spaces. I watched artists lean on artists lean on collaborators lean on artists lean on collaborators who also are artists (whew). They adapt to the unexpected, and find creative solutions in real time.

Today, they premiere the original shorts they’d been creating over the past seven days at Monira Foundation Cinema @manacontemporary. Ticket details @in7videoresidency bio.

Before then, here’s a selection of photographs (and a gif) from inside the residency base @arts14c and beyond, across Jersey City. h/t to @beingandbecoming for having me on board on theee rollercoaster!

See you all at the screening. taken in Jersey City, New Jersey by @peoplevsystems

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4 months ago

Today is your final chance to experience The Exquisite Corpse Show at @nimbusartscenter.

It’s been a joy watching people pause, look closely, and engage with Eye Candy, my contribution to the exhibition. Drawn from Grey Pride, the work riffs on the tension between playfulness, attraction, visibility, and who gets looked at in public space.

The exhibition concludes today with a closing reception from 2–4 PM, your last opportunity to experience the work in person.

Eye Candy is available for acquisition. For collector inquiries, feel free to DM me or curator @tinamanecaart.

Thank you to Tina Maneca, Nimbus Arts Center, the participating artists, and everyone who spent time with the exhibition over the past several weeks. by @peoplevsystems

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3 months ago

Today is the final day of Bold Strokes: The Next Generation of Artists @salmagundiclub.

What stays with me most is not only having Everything Comes Back to Bilal exhibited within the storied halls of the Salmagundi Club, but the conversations, mentorship, and community that surrounded the experience.

A special thank you to Stella Chang (@artbystellachang) for her support, generosity, and commitment to creating opportunities for emerging artists. And to jury and curator Ivy Huang (@imur_gallery), whose curatorial workshop and mentorship offered valuable insight into the curatorial review process and challenged me to think more deeply about how work is seen, selected, and situated in space.

Over the past few weeks, the exhibition opened doors to new conversations around curation, collaboration, exhibition-making, and the many ways artwork moves through the world. I’m grateful for the artists, curators, collectors, and visitors who spent time with the work and shared their perspectives.

Everything Comes Back to Bilal began as a documentary project about a barbershop in Morgantown, West Virginia. Watching it continue to find new audiences and contexts has been deeply meaningful.

Thank you to everyone who made this experience possible.

photo credit: all (@tollexrism), but slide 2 @imur_gallery ❤️
featured exhibits: Bold Strokes, Humans26 by @peoplevsystems

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4 months ago

I’ll be showing three pieces (two for the first time in an exhibit) from my documentary project, Everything Comes Back to Bilal, in the North Jersey Photographers’ Exhibition at MORA Museum of International Art @mora_museum in Jersey City.

It’ll be in the company of amazing artists working in the photographic field across North Jersey.

h/t @panchromaniac, @tinamanecaart and @schwartzrays for the invite!

OPENING RECEPTION
Friday, August 21 | 6–9 PM

ON VIEW
August 23–September 26, 2026
Saturdays | 4–7 PM
Sundays | 12–3 PM

MORA Museum of International Art
80 Grand Street
Jersey City, NJ 07302

Curated by Ray Schwartz, Tina Maneca and Joseph Shneberg.

Save the date, bring someone with you, and come find me on opening night.

#EverythingComesBackToBilal #NorthJerseyPhotographers #JerseyCityArts #DocumentaryPhotography #PeopleVSystems by @peoplevsystems

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a month ago

When I moved to Jersey City, Lincoln Park became one of my stomping grounds. Friday soccer games, long walks, conversations, moments to clear my head by the water, and many reminders of why public space matters.

That’s reason it feels meaningful to have work included in In The Wind, alongside 86 other Hudson County artists, as part of what’s been adjudged the largest public art installation in Hudson County history. Thanks to @tinamanecaart for having me in yet another large-scale installation. And kudos to @arthouseproductions for this huge undertaken.

I’m grateful to see Grey Pride become part of a landscape that has given so much to me over the years. More than anything, I love what public exhibitions make possible. They lower barriers to access, invite unexpected encounters, and bring art into the everyday lives of people who may never step inside a gallery or museum.

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Grey Pride examines Pride as public ritual, refuge, performance, negotiation, desire, and belonging. It feels fitting that the work will now live in a public space, continuing conversations around visibility, community, and who gets to be seen.

Opening Reception
June 5, 2026 | 6–8 PM
The View at Lincoln Park, Jersey City

—————

In The Wind transforms Lincoln Park with artist-designed flags featuring original work by 87 Hudson County artists. Presented in celebration of Art House Productions’ 25th anniversary and supported through funding from the NJEDA A.R.T. – Phase II Grant Program, the exhibition will remain on view from June through November 2026. taken in Lincoln Park (Jersey City) by @peoplevsystems

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4 months ago

Tonight.

Honored to have work opening in two group exhibitions across New York and New Jersey:

• Bold Strokes: The Next Generation of Artists at @salmagundiclub, with a piece from Everything Comes Back to Bilal. juried & curated by Ivy Huang (@imur_gallery) and led by @artbystellachang

• Pride-Full @heidigalleryatjsdd with works from Grey Pride, curated by Jeremy Moss (@mosspix)

Grateful to the curators, organizers, jurors, and everyone who has picked interest and supported my work.

scroll for details and exhibition info, and check my website (link in bio) for more. taken in Manhattan, New York by @peoplevsystems

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