Samuel Olayombo (b. 1991) is a Lagos-born Nigerian painter who studied at the University of Benin, has worked in Accra and is pursuing an MFA at Hunter College, New York. Represented by Zidoun-Bossuyt Gallery, he has works in The Dean Collection and Sir David Adjaye’s collection. In large paintings with palette-knife textured skin, he portrays male figures, such as cowboys, in pink tones to question toxic masculinity and gender stereotypes.
Samuel Olayombo (b. 1991, Lagos, Nigeria) is a Nigerian painter. He studied fine and applied arts at the University of Benin, has lived and worked in Accra, Ghana, and is currently pursuing an MFA in studio art at Hunter College in New York. He works on a large scale with oils, acrylics, charcoal and pastels, often applying paint with a palette knife to build up textured, almost three-dimensional skin surfaces. His subjects are predominantly male, non-gender-normative portraits with vivid, dramatic expressions. His themes include scarification in Yoruba culture, toxic masculinity and macho culture, and social constructs of gender and sexuality. Having grown up with five sisters in a patriarchal society, he deliberately paints masculine figures – for example in his cowboy series – in rose and pastel pink, colours conventionally coded as feminine, to question these stereotypes and argue for gender equality. He is represented by Zidoun-Bossuyt Gallery, where his solo exhibitions have included “Lotus Bloom Ranchers” in Dubai (2023), “Transposition” in Paris (2024) and “Canter Days: When Gallop Was the Scroll” in Luxembourg (2025). His works are held in collections including The Dean Collection in Los Angeles and the collection of Sir David Adjaye. The painting “Flossy Bobby Trench” (2022), offered by TUMO Gallery, is a large canvas in oil and acrylic measuring 200 × 150 cm.
