Sola Olulode, Together Again, 2023
The first word that comes to mind when looking at Sola Olulode’s new works, currently on display at Ed Cross gallery, is radiant. Every piece is a striking blend of yellow and orange hues, and across the works a romantic story seems to unspool. Against a golden background glow, Black women hold each other, and clasp hands, and walk towards a vast sunset that could also be a portal into a luminous new world. In one work, aptly titled In the Bubble of Your Love, inky clusters of bubbles float around a couple as they raise their joined hands in an ecstatic dance. In others, Olulode’s recurring sun motif seems to slip into a halo effect. Burning, like the star that showed us to our love is an immersive exhibition – Olulode’s glowing works hang on sheets of tie-dyed blue silk, which drape the gallery walls like curtains. The impression is of a softly clouded sky studded with many suns. Surrounded by halos and beams of warm light, it feels like you're in a heavenly space – a utopian dream state full of Black queer joy, tenderness and intimacy. The whole room simply radiates love.
