Precious Okoyomon's Roman church transformed into enchanted jungle

Precious Okoyomon (born 1993, London, lives in New York) presents her first solo exhibition in Italy, 'The Sun eats her children', at the deconsecrated church of Sant'Andrea de Scaphis in Trastevere, Rome. The installation features wild and poisonous plants arranged around an abandoned Baroque altar, alongside large butterflies imported from Africa and a giant screaming puppet that opens and closes its eyes to dreamy music by Kelsey Lu. The CO2-saturated green atmosphere creates a disorienting effect. Okoyomon, who identifies as non-binary and primarily as a poet, has previously shown at the Venice Biennale (2022), LUMA (2019), and MMK (2020). The work explores themes of violence, destruction, and life, using invasive species like kudzu in past projects. The exhibition raises ethical questions about the treatment of living beings in art, as the butterflies struggle to survive in the hot summer environment. The piece is described as powerful, welcoming, and violent, situated at a crossroads between Arthur Rimbaud and Jeff Koons. The gallery space is effectively a satellite of Gavin Brown's enterprise.