Mitochondria Gallery is pleased to announce, Place of Repose III, the inaugural exhibition of 2026, opening January 31st. This third iteration of the series brings together new paintings and sculptures by nine contemporary artists whose practices collectively examine the conditions, aesthetics, and cultural significance of rest. The exhibition extends the project’s ongoing investigation into the spatial, psychological, and social dimensions of repose, foregrounding how individuals seek refuge within both interior and exterior environments. The works on view draw from the intimacies of domestic space, the restorative qualities of natural landscapes, interpersonal bonds, reflective self‑engagement, and inherited cultural rituals that shape understandings of rest and restoration. 

 

The exhibition presents small to large scale figurative paintings on canvas by Opeyemi Matthew Olukotun, Okoye Chukwuemeka John, Kelani Fatai, Nedia Were, and Chika Idu. These artists employ representational strategies to explore embodiment, affect, and the everyday gestures through which rest is enacted and imagined. Also featured are landscape paintings by Izere Antoine, whose works evoke contemplative environments that frame nature as a site of stillness, refuge, and renewal.

 

Complementing the paintings, Place of Repose III features medium to large scale sculptural works by Agemo Francis, Nduka Ikechukwu, and Djakou Nathalie Kassi. Utilizing materials such as wood, aluminum, and textiles, these sculptors engage materiality as a site of cultural memory, structural tension, and tactile resonance, expanding the exhibition’s inquiry into how rest is materially constructed and symbolically articulated.