Odili Donald Odita, an artist who recently painted the Museum of Modern Art’s atrium, has sued Jack Shainman Gallery, the New York space that represents him.
In the lawsuit, which was filed last week in New York’s Supreme Court, Odita alleged that the gallery “withheld” $1.12 million in artworks by him, even after the artist sought to get them back. He also cast doubt on the gallery’s finances, alleging that Jack Shainman’s accounting for his work “became extremely suspect” once the painter began to scrutinize it.
Odita, who has exhibited his abstractions in venues ranging from the Prospect New Orleans triennial to the Venice Biennale, is known for abstractions that utilize dazzling arrays of color as metaphors for liberation. Born in Nigeria and based in Philadelphia, he has had eight solo shows with Jack Shainman, which represents him alongside Los Angeles–based David Kordansky Gallery and Cape Town–based Stevenson. His MoMA commission went on view in April.
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The lawsuit centers around a deal inked between the artist and the gallery in 2016 that calls for Odita to receive $14,000 a month. According to Odita, the gallery stopped paying out that monthly stipend in October 2024, when a senior director at Jack Shainman informed him that “the gallery could not afford to continue carrying what it asserted was a large outstanding deficit,” per the suit. Odita claimed that he had tried repeatedly to get his stipend back to no avail.
Odita moreover claimed that the gallery continued to sell his work, though “it has not done so with the frequency it once did.” Meanwhile, the suit claimed, the gallery continued to list Odita on its roster. (When ARTnews checked Jack Shainman Gallery’s website on Monday, Odita’s name was not on the Artists page anymore.)
According to the suit, Odita proposed that the art in Jack Shainman’s possession be reverted to the artist, with the aim of him selling them himself and using the funds gained to cancel out the alleged deficit, but the gallery allegedly declined to take him up on the plan, saying “it has the right to retain all of Mr. Odita’s artwork, not [the right to] have to sell it,” per the filing.
An agreement between Odita and the gallery that was signed in 2016 and submitted alongside the lawsuit does not include language about the retention of his artwork in the event of a deficit. The agreement states the amount Odita will be paid monthly and that the gallery will not fund production expenses related to the installation of his artworks.
The lawsuit did not state how many works by Odita are allegedly being held by Jack Shainman Gallery. The artist claimed that the art will “continue to accrue damage and depreciate in value” unless he gets it back. He is now seeking $500,000 in damages, as well as the return of the work.
After this article was published, the gallery said in a statement to ARTnews, “Jack Shainman Gallery disputes all claims made by Odita and will be providing a full response in public court filings.”
A lawyer for Odita declined to comment.
Previously, Odita spoke positively of his relationship with Jack Shainman. In a 2020 interview, Odita said, “The artists in Jack’s gallery have changed over the years, and his gallery has grown in the process to become one of the best-to-see galleries in New York City. A lot of that success is having a deep roster so that artists can support each other through their sales and in their success.”
Jack Shainman Gallery was founded in 1984 and expanded earlier this year, opening a new location in a vast former banking hall in Tribeca. Artnet News reported that the eponymous dealer paid $18.2 million for the space using financing from TD Bank.
The gallery was involved last year in another lawsuit, this time as the plaintiff. In 2024, Jack Shainman Gallery sued collector Jim Hedges, alleging that he owed nearly $300,000 for the sales of 19 artworks. The lawsuit was dropped last November.
Update, 10/6/25, 5:35 p.m.: This article has been updated with a statement from Jack Shainman Gallery.