MoMA PS1 has inaugurated its new Courtyard Commission programme with a major site-specific installation by artist and poet Precious Okoyomon, transforming the museum’s courtyard into a living forest of plants, sculpture and sound.
Among the flowers I learned to love, A Garden of decreation (2026) is Okoyomon’s largest outdoor installation to date and their first project of this scale in New York City. The work will remain on view for more than two years, marking the first commission in the museum’s new biannual programme dedicated to ambitious public artworks that reimagine the role of outdoor space.
Developed in collaboration with specialty nursery issima and accompanied by a sound work by composer Oliver Leith, the installation combines grasses, flowers, weeds, grafted trees, pollinators and climbing vines to create a landscape that will continually evolve with the seasons. Rather than separating native and invasive species, cultivated planting and wild growth, Okoyomon brings them together in a garden designed around coexistence, adaptation and change.
Inspired by philosopher Simone Weil’s concept of “decreation”—the continual making and unmaking of the world—the work imagines a landscape shaped by climate instability and constant transformation. Instead of presenting a fixed environment, the installation embraces mutation, allowing visitors to experience the garden differently as it grows and changes over time.
At its centre stands the pleasure principle (2026), a 25-foot-long teddy bear sculpture that visitors can enter by climbing a staircase through the bear’s rear before exiting via a slide through its mouth. Inside, visitors hear recordings of Okoyomon reading their poetry, combining sculpture, performance and play into an immersive experience. The teddy bear, a recurring motif in the artist’s work, references what Okoyomon describes as the “creature within us”—a wild animal transformed into companion, toy and transitional object.
The installation also launches MoMA PS1’s new Courtyard Commission series, a biannual programme inviting artists to create large-scale works for the museum’s outdoor spaces. Accessible as part of MoMA PS1’s recently introduced free admission programme, the commissions are intended to activate the courtyard throughout the year, including during the institution’s long-running Warm Up music series.
Ruba Katrib, Chief Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs at MoMA PS1, said:
“We are thrilled to launch our new Courtyard Commission series with Precious Okoyomon’s most ambitious work to date, extending their exciting practice at a new scale with both a playfulness and philosophical depth. An ever-evolving site of recreation and rest, this installation will offer a welcoming and immersive green space for both museum visitors and the Long Island City community over the next two years.”
Okoyomon, a Nigerian-American artist and poet, has previously exhibited at institutions including the Aspen Art Museum, Performance Space New York, LUMA Westbau, Museum Für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt and the Venice Biennale. Their work has earned international recognition for bringing together ecology, mythology, poetry and questions of identity through immersive installations and performances.
Courtyard Commission: Precious Okoyomon is organized by Ruba Katrib, Chief Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs.
