Ayobami Macaulay

Ayobami Macaulay is a Multi-Disciplinary artist working as a Photographer, Filmmaker/Producer, and Story Writer. As a photographer, he is a seasoned events, landscape and conceptual portraits photographer. His most recent work "Portraits of Emotions" graced the cover page of the 2019/2020 Hamilton Arts Council Culture Guide. As a Film Maker, Ayobami has written, produced and financed the film "Taxi Driver"; Oko Ashewo that has been on Netflix since 2015. As a Story Writer, Ayobami is currently working on soon to be published book entitled "Diary of A Reluctant King" which chronicles the journey of an unwitting tax collector, thrust on a journey to meet God. Ayobami is constantly seeking new ways to fuse the different genres of art in order to attempt to create something new. He strives to have a situation that makes art self sustainable in Toronto communities through mutually beneficial artist/business partnerships.

In response to the question "What does it mean for you to be an artist during these challenging times? Has the meaning of that word as it applies to you and your work shifted?", Ayobami replied,

" Art has always been the one true vehicle that is capable of conveying the current state of the human experience. As an artist existing in these times, I believe, when capable, that it is important to create or at the very least bring attention to works that can help humanity express, with great context, how we are feeling and what we believe should be done to influence the conversation and necessary action in a direction that will bring balance to the current situation.

I will end with a quote from the late great Toni Morrison:

'This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal” …. And in my opinion, as it pertains to me and my work, the meaning of the word “Artist” will never shift, but forever remain married to the important work of continually seeking to express humanity’s thoughts as they inevitably change.'"

Check out his Instagram at @Ayobamitzu


Self-portrait photograph of the artist. Ayobami looks directly at the camera without an expression on his face.


Pictured above: the painting "The Second Portrait of Happiness" (2017) uses warm colours to illustrate a shirtless Black man. He looks towards the sky with his hands softly raised. This is from Ayobami's heat mapping series.


Pictured above: "The Second Portrait of Shame" (2017). It is a close up of a woman looking into the distance. Her eyes are heavily lined and her face has been painted red, yellow and green. This is from Ayobami's heat mapping series.