Next Special Events | Exhibitions

Fall 2026 Exhibitions Opening Celebration

A large group of people gathered in a gallery look at the artwork on the walls and pedestals and converse with one another.

Join us for a night of art, insight, and inspiration! All ages welcome—come curious, leave inspired.

Explore exhibitions including Wex-commissioned works, drawings, paintings, sculpture, and immersive installations by Sammy Baloji, Temitayo Ogunbiyi, Léonard Pongo, and sweat variant (the collective practice of Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born). You’ll encounter artworks that consider architecture, ornament, and the ethical use of materials; play and discovery; cultural legacies and entanglements; identity; and the layered histories and everyday uses of plants.

The reception begins at 4 PM with a happy hour featuring a cash bar and light hors d’oeuvres. The galleries remain open until 8 PM. Wexner Center members will enjoy 30% off purchases at the store and free parking. Nonmembers receive $6 parking. Upon arrival, please stop by the welcome desk or see a member of our Advancement team at any time for parking validation.

Celebrate with us in a relaxed and inspiring environment and connect with creative people near and far who help shape contemporary art. 

IMAGE CAPTION
Fall 2025 Exhibitions Opening. Photo: Emma Parker Photography. 

More about the artists

Sammy Baloji

Since 2005, Sammy Baloji (b. 1978, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)) has traced the entangled histories of the DRC. He delves into the cultural, architectural, and industrial legacies of the mineral-rich Katanga region while scrutinizing the enduring structures of Belgian colonialism.

Baloji lives between Brussels and his hometown and is pursuing a PhD on contemporary kasala (a ceremonial poem) and lukasa (a memory board used in ritual performances) as forms of geopolitical knowledge. A Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, founder of the Rencontres Picha/Biennale de Lubumbashi, and participant in major biennials worldwide, he is widely recognized as one of the most influential artists working today. Solo exhibitions of his work have been presented at National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens (2025); Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art, London (2024–25); Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington DC (2017); and Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2015–16); among others.
 

Peter Born

Peter Born (he/him) works as a director, composer, and designer of performance and installation. In collaboration with Okpokwasili, Born’s work has been featured in the Berlin Biennale, Grief and Grievance: Art and Mourning in America at the New Museum, Witch Hunt at the Hammer Museum, Loophole of Retreat: Venice, and Sex Ecologies at Kunsthall Trondheim. Their collaborative performance work has appeared at The Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Whitney Museum; MASS MoCA; the Irish Museum of Modern Art; and ICA Boston; among others. He is the recipient of four New York Dance Performance Awards (Bessie Awards). His work as an art director and prop stylist has been featured in video and photo projects with Vogue, Estee Lauder, Barney’s Co-op, Bloomingdales, Old Navy, 25 Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and No Strings Puppet Productions.

Temitayo Ogunbiyi

Temitayo Ogunbiyi’s multimedia practice explores the relationship between the environment, two- and three-dimensional line, and representation. Her work responds to and forges dialogues between global current events, anthropological histories, and botanical cultures. Systems that capture, mediate, and direct the movement of people and matter are recurring subjects of investigation.

In 2018, Ogunbiyi built her first functional playground, and she has made 14 playgrounds to date. Her most recent playgrounds are on view at the De Singel (Antwerp, Belgium) and the Bundeskunsthalle (Bonn, Germany). Another was recently on view at the Harewood Biennial (Leeds, UK).

Ogunbiyi’s recent and forthcoming exhibitions include projects at the Museum Tinguely (Basel, Switzerland); the 4th Lagos Biennial; the Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos; The Arts Club of Chicago; and the Noguchi Museum (New York). She lives and works in Lagos, Nigeria, with her young family.

Okwui Okpokwasili

Okwui Okpokwasili (she/her) is a Brooklyn-based performer, actor, choreographer, and writer. Okpokwasili has earned numerous accolades, including a 2025 Art Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, 2018 Princeton University Hodder Fellowship, a 2018 Herb Alpert Award, a 2018 Doris Duke Artist Award, and a 2018 MacArthur Fellowship. Okpokwasili was New York Live Arts’ 2015–17 Randjelović/Stryker Resident Commissioned Artist. She was the inaugural artist for the Kravis Studio Residency program at The Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2022 and an artist in residence at the Brown Arts Institute in 2023. She continues to collaborate with Ralph Lemon, Kevin Beasley, Saidiya Hartman, and Kaneza Schaal, among other artists.

Léonard Pongo

Léonard Pongo is a Belgian-Congolese photographer and filmmaker whose work across photography, film, and installation explores the social, political, and environmental realities of the Democratic Republic of Congo. His work has been exhibited internationally at institutions and festivals including the Venice Biennale, DocLisboa, Tate Modern in London, Bamako Encounters, and BOZAR in Brussels.

Program Support

Sammy Baloji: When Extraction Becomes Form It Speaks in Borrowed Tongues is organized by the Wexner Center for the Arts and curated by Head of Visual Arts Julieta González.

Temitayo Ogunbiyi: You will have revelations along felled branches and longer roots/routes was organized by The Arts Club of Chicago. The presentation at the Wexner Center is coordinated by Curator of Exhibitions Rebecca Lowery.

sweat variant: Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born is organized by the Wexner Center for the Arts and curated by Curator of Exhibitions Rebecca Lowery.

SAMMY BALOJI’S PRESENTATION IS MADE POSSIBLE BY

Ohio State’s Global Arts + Humanities

Office of the Vice Provost for the Arts 

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY

FotoFocus

WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY

Greater Columbus Arts Council
Ohio Arts Council, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts
CampusParc
The Columbus Foundation
The Ohio State University
Wexner Center Foundation Board
With special thanks to our members
 

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Fall 2026 Exhibitions Opening Celebration