ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Precious Okoyomon's 'Garden of Decreation' Opens at MoMA PS1 Courtyard

exhibition · 2026-07-31

The first Courtyard Commission by Precious Okoyomon at MoMA PS1, titled 'Among the Flowers I Learned to Love: A Garden of Decreation', will be displayed until 2028. This installation reimagines a previous parking lot as a vibrant ecosystem, featuring 'The Pleasure Principle', a 25-foot-long concrete teddy bear that visitors can navigate through, illuminated by lights and poetry. Surrounding this centerpiece are over 2,000 plants and nearly fifty trees obtained from issima in Rhode Island. Accompanying the installation is a fifteen-minute sound piece by Oliver Leith. Additionally, ceramic tiles inscribed with excerpts from Okoyomon's book 'But Did You Die?' are integrated throughout. Collaborating with Preston Link and Alpine Construction, the garden was intentionally designed to appear unfinished while facing various weather conditions.

Key facts

  • Precious Okoyomon's 'Among the Flowers I Learned to Love: A Garden of Decreation' is the inaugural Courtyard Commission at MoMA PS1, on view through 2028.
  • The installation features 'The Pleasure Principle', a 25-foot-long concrete teddy bear.
  • Visitors climb a staircase into the bear's rear, slide through its body, and emerge through its mouth.
  • The garden includes over 2,000 plants and nearly fifty trees sourced from issima in Rhode Island.
  • Ceramic tiles with fragments from Okoyomon's book 'But Did You Die?' are embedded in the landscape.
  • The work is influenced by psychoanalytic writers Leo Bersani and Adam Phillips.
  • Okoyomon collaborated with landscape architect Preston Link and Alpine Construction.
  • The installation is designed to change over time, weathering New York's climate.
  • Chief Curator Ruba Katrib commented on the installation's welcoming green space.
  • This is Okoyomon's seventh garden, described as 'an orchestra'.

Entities

Artists

  • Precious Okoyomon
  • Oliver Leith
  • Leo Bersani
  • Adam Phillips
  • Preston Link
  • Simone Weil

Institutions

  • MoMA PS1
  • issima
  • Serpentine
  • Wonder Press
  • Alpine Construction
  • Whitewall
  • Aspen Art Museum
  • Performance Space New York
  • LUMA Westbau
  • Museum Für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt
  • Venice Biennale

Locations

  • New York City
  • Long Island City
  • Rhode Island
  • Aspen
  • Frankfurt
  • Venice
  • United States

Sources