Olalekan Jeyifous

Crown Ether by Olalekan Jeyifous
Photo: Andrew Jorgenson

Jeyifous is a Nigerian born, Brooklyn-based artist and architect. His work in public art, installation, drawing, collage and design explores the past and potential futures of urban environments.

For Project 1 by ArtPrize, he will create The Boom and the Bust — a monumental sculpture referencing the historic and contemporary challenges of housing discrimination and the inequities of urban life. This abstracted multi-story building form will rise 25-feet from the ground at the corner of Louis St and Monroe Ave in downtown Grand Rapids. The sculpture arises from the artist’s research into the recent history of housing in Grand Rapids. By combining references to skyscrapers and single-family houses, it reflects the juxtaposition between massive downtown development happening alongside foreclosure and displacement.