About

kó is an art space based in Lagos, Nigeria, that is dedicated to promoting modern and contemporary art.

kó has a dual focus in championing Nigeria’s leading artists from the modern period and celebrating emerging and established contemporary artists across Africa and the Diaspora.

In Lagos, kó presents a rigorous program of solo and group exhibitions at its gallery in Ikoyi. kó has showcased the work of several emerging African and Diasporan artists, many of whom participated in artist residencies with the gallery in Lagos. kó has also developed projects with Nigeria's preeminent modern artists from the 1940s-1980s in an effort to re-invigorate discourses about Nigeria's modernist and post-colonial art movements, including Ben Enwonwu, Obiora Udechukwu, Nike Davies-Okundaye, Jimo Akolo, Demas Nwoko, Bruce Onobrakepya, Yusuf Grillo, Uzo Egonu, Twins Seven-Seven, Jimoh Buraimoh, Muraina Oyelami, Adebisi Fabunmi, and Rufus Ogundele, among others. 

kó has participated in numerous international art fairs including Art Basel Miami Beach, Frieze Masters London, Frieze Sculpture London, The Armory Show, Art Dubai, Abu Dhabi Art, Untitled Art Fair, EXPO Chicago, Art SG, Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Art X Lagos, 1-54 New York, 1-54 Marrakech, and 1-54 Paris at Christie’s. kó has placed artists in institutional collections including the Tate, Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, High Museum of Art, Princeton University Art Museum, Wellin Museum at Hamilton College, Crocker Art Museum, Foundation H (Madagascar) and Proyectos Publicos (Mexico). kó's projects have been featured in international publications including The New York Times, The Financial Times, Artforum, The Art Newspaper, Artnet, Dazed, Vogue, and Contemporary &.

kó was launched by Kavita Chellaram, an art collector and founder of Arthouse Contemporary in Lagos, Nigeria. She has been a major force in developing the modern and contemporary art market in Nigeria. Her exhibitions and projects over the years have contributed to the global recognition of numerous modern African masters. In 2015, Chellaram founded the Arthouse Foundation, a non-profit artist residency programme in Lagos which has organised over thirty artist residencies.