Olalekan Jeyifous takes over Momentary Flag Project

Olalekan Jeyifous will be spotlighted for the Momentary Flag Project in Bentonville, Arkansas. In the spirit of its adaptive reuse architecture, the Momentary Flag Project offers a rotating series of artist-designed flags that are raised on the factory’s historic flag pole, located on E Street. The series asks artists to explore the symbolic resonance of flags and consider how they shape our understanding of place and identity. 

Olalekan Jeyifous

Brooklyn-based artist and designer Olalekan Jeyifous, whose work often reimagines social spaces around issues that explore the relationship between architecture, community, and the environment, will present the first flag of 2021. Jeyifous received a BA from Cornell University and is a visual artist whose work has been exhibited at venues such as the Studio Museum in Harlem, MoMA, the Vitra Design Museum, and Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. 

In addition to his extensive exhibition history, Olalekan Jeyifous has spent over a decade creating large-scale artwork for a variety of public spaces. He created award-winning installations for Starbucks located in the Barclays Arena in Brooklyn and its Flagship store located in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood. Most recently, he has completed commissions for the Durham SmART Vision Plan, a 50ft-tall sculpture for the 2017 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, and four large sculptures for Public Square in downtown Cleveland, Ohio.

About the Momentary

The Momentary is a new contemporary art space in downtown Bentonville, Arkansas, for visual, performing, and culinary arts. The mission of the Momentary is to champion contemporary art’s role in everyday life and explore the unfolding story of contemporary American arts in an international context by actively commissioning and exhibiting outstanding works that explore new ideas and inspire action.

The Momentary was founded by the Walton family, based on the vision of Tom, Olivia, and Steuart Walton. The Walton Family Foundation is supporting this project as a way to enhance the quality of life in Northwest Arkansas. The Momentary is a satellite to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, founded by Alice Walton.

The Momentary welcomes all with free general admission.