Artist Odili Donald Odita of Conshohocken (Whitemarsh Township) recently launched Songs from Life, a new site-specific commission in The Museum of Modern Art’s main lobby. The exhibit opened on April 8th and continues through April 2026.
Odita and his team worked from February to the beginning of April to transform the museum’s lobby with bright planes of interweaving colors. Visitors will have the opportunity to see the artist at work during public hours, plus enhance the experience by scanning a QR code to listen to the songs Odita used as inspiration for the commission. The exhibit was organized by Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi, The Steve and Lisa Tananbaum Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture, with Elizabeth Wickham, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Painting and Sculpture.
“Odita’s work reflects the history of abstract painting, African and African American textile traditions, and the indigenous mural art of his Nigerian heritage,” said Nzewi. “Drawing references from music and art history, he transforms MoMA’s main lobby into a grand opera of brilliant colors and geometric patterns that enrich Museum visitors’ experience. We are delighted by this commission, the artist’s largest to date.”
“I am inspired by a wide range of cultural and personal references, drawing from both African and Western aesthetics, historical associations, and contemporary design and architectural influences,” said Odita. “Through abstraction, I aim to reflect the complexities of the human experience, creating patterns and rhythms that resonate on both visual and emotional levels to get the viewer to reflect upon their own circumstances with respect to the artwork’s engagement through theme and construction.”
In the announcement, the exhibit was described as follows:
Executed with acrylic latex paint used specifically on interior walls, the floor-to-ceiling installation will cover the Museum’s lobby in a cascading kaleidoscope of colors that, for the artist, are expressions of freedom and change. Music—the primary source of inspiration for this commission—is also crucial to Odita’s practice, as it allows him to think through problems in his paintings and connect with the passion and community it creates among people.
Musical artits you will find on the playlist include Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Talking Heads, Bill Withers, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, and many more.
A native of Nigeria, Odita received his BFA with distinction from Ohio State University and his MFA from Bennington College. In 1998, he earned an ART/OMI International Art Residency. Since 2006, Odita has been a professor of painting at the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia.
Odita’s recent solo exhibitions and public commissions include Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts, Alabama (2024), The Contemporary Dayton, Ohio (2022), Stanley Museum of Art, Iowa (2022), Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida (2021), Penn Medicine’s Pavilion, Pennsylvania (2021), Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania (2021), Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Virginia (2020), Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, Florida (2019), Sarasota Museum of Art, Florida (2019), Newark Museum, New Jersey (2017), City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, Pennsylvania (2015), Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, North
Carolina (2015), and Yale Art Gallery, Connecticut (2015). Notable group exhibitions include Brooklyn Museum, New York (2024), Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania (2021), Laumeier Sculpture Park, Missouri (2020), Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland (2019), Boca Raton Museum, Florida (2021), Cleveland Triennial, Ohio (2018), New Orleans Triennial, Louisiana (2017), and Venice Biennale, Venice (2007).
Photos: Left is a portrait of Odili Donald Odita, 2023. Photo: Natalie Kahn, Courtesy the artist. Right is installation view of Odili Donald Odita: Songs from Life, on view at The Museum of Modern Art from April 8, 2025 – April 2026. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Digital Image © 2025 The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Photo by Jonathan Dorado.