5 Contemporary Black Artists You Need To Know
If you're an art lover, or just someone who appreciates creativity and innovation, then it's time to get acquainted with these sensational artists. From photography to mixed media, these 5 contemporary black artists are sure to inspire you!
Portrait of Nelly Moudime II //Oil on Canvas// (2020) by Kehinde Wiley
1. Kehinde Wiley
Los Angeles born and New York based visual artist Kehinde Wiley has gained notoriety for his innovative paintings and sculptures that combine African influences with Western (Old Master) traditions. As the Art Story recounts that “his experiences growing up as a young black man in the United States would strongly influence his artistic career.” Initially, Wiley found inspiration for his portraits from photographs taken of young men on the streets of Harlem and later on, subjects from across the world including Mumbai, Senegal, Dakar and Rio de Janeiro which composed his body of work called “The World Stage”. As outlined on his website, Wiley also finds inspiration from classical European paintings of noblemen, royalty and aristocrats. He states that his goal was to be able to paint illusionistically and master the technical aspects, but then to be able to fertilize that with great ideas. Furthermore, his training established the ideal environment and skill to replicate the Old Master paintings which he describes as “a return to how I earned my chops — spending a lot of time at museums and staring at white flesh.”
When examining his paintings, you may notice that you’re naturally drawn to the lips, eyes, and mucous membranes but equally, the fact that the subjects assume the poses of colonial masters. Wiley explains that he “takes the figure out of its original environment and place it in something completely made up. Most of the backgrounds I end up using are sheer decorative devices. Things that come from things like wallpaper or the architectural façade ornamentation of a building, and in a way it robs the painting of any sense of place or location, and it’s located strictly in an area of the decorative. For the backgrounds in the World Stage Series, I look for traditional decorative objects, textiles, or devotional objects of that culture to draw upon.”
His work is, without a doubt, remarkable and stands amongst classical renowned artists such as Titian and Michelangelo. Notably, one piece in particular that has receive international praise is his portrait of 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Obama which was unveiled and showcased at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery on February 12th, 2018.
Daughter of Dust //Cotton, silk, wool and velvet quilting and applique// (2020) by Bisa Butler
2. Bisa Butler
Bisa Butler is an incredible American fiber artist who symbolically uses the historically marginalized medium of textiles, as well as sculptures and mixed media to represent the narratives of the historically marginalized and complex subjects that she portrays.
Her initial formal training in painting began at Howard University in Washington, DC but upon becoming pregnant with her daughter, she rediscovered her passion and appreciation for textiles as a vibrant and safer substitute for the toxicity emitted from the oil paints and thinners.
Textiles allowed Butler to also connect with her family history which is exemplified through her very first portrait quilt of her grandparents, created while pursuing her masters degree in arts education at Montclair State University, New Jersey. Working in textiles was also a means of revisiting her childhood during which her mother and grandmother taught her the necessary sewing skills. She uses this medium to explore integral themes such as family, community, migration, the promise of youth, and artistic and intellectual legacies while focusing on ordinary people of African American descent which is an element that integrates universality.
Butler explains on her website that she hopes that people view her work and feel the value and equality of all people - “By presenting all of my figures with a richness and dignity they deserve whether they are from a humble background or the upper classes. All of my pieces are done in life scale to invite the viewer to engage in a dialogue— the figures all look the viewers directly in their eyes. I am inviting a reimagining and a contemporary dialogue about age old issues that are still problematic in our culture through the comforting embracing medium of the quilt. I am expressing what I believe; the equal value of all humans.”
This talented artist has extensively showcased her work at galleries across the United States of America including solo exhibitions such as Bisa Butler Portraits held from November 2020 to April 2021 at The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago IL and group exhibitions like at The African American Museum of Philadelphia, Warm Spirits Art, Little Rock, Arkansas in 2008.
Sheila on a Rattan Settee (1982) by Boscoe Holder
3. Boscoe Holder
Boscoe Holder was born in the twin island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in 1921. Holder began his artistic journey at the age of 7 as a self taught painter. His passion for the arts shone through as he engaged in dance, costume design, choreography and dance instruction at the University of the West Indies.
From his teenage years, Holder had a great fascination and appreciation for the culture of his homeland which led him to research and delve deeper into the local dance and music scene. He translated his research into his remarkable landscape and portrait paintings such as his seascape “Blanchisseuse” which illustrates the paradisiac scene of the village located in the northern coast of Trinidad.
According to his son, Christian Holder, by the late 1930s, his father had established a dance group which was known for showcasing theatrical used performances of local songs and dances and became a founder and life member of the Trinidad Art Society while in the 80s, holding several art exhibitions in many places including Puerto Rico, and in Cannes, France, in Curaçao, in Nassau, Bahamas, Toronto, Canada and Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
In 1950, Holder, his English-born wife, Sheila Clarke, and their young son, Christian Holder, travelled to London which would be the family’s home for 20 years. While in England, Holder exhibited at the Trafford Gallery, the Redfern Gallery, and the Commonwealth Institute in London, and at the Castle Museum, Nottingham. His son notes in his father’s biography that two of Boscoe’s paintings were bought by the Leicester Galleries. “He also exhibited at the Martell Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, held at the Royal Water Colour Society Galleries. In 1981 Sir Ellis Clarke, former President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago presented Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, with a Holder painting as a wedding gift from the Republic and even had the honor of appearing before Queen Elizabeth II twice (firstly at a Command Performance at Windsor Castle in 1955 and secondly, 11 years later at a dinner with the Queen and Prince Philip at Claridges, in London, in honour of Her Majesty’s forthcoming visit to Trinidad and Tobago.)
Holder and his family returned to Trinidad in 1970 when he began to focus predominantly on his painting career.
He was truly celebrated in his home country as his work was featured in the March 1983 issue of Town and Country magazine and in the Islands Magazine in April 1985. He was also the bestowed the honour of the Hummingbird gold Medal by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago by virtue of his contribution to the Arts and had a street named after him in 1973. In his lifetime, he received numerous awards and duly deserved recognition including one of Venezuela’s most prestigious, the Order of Francisco de Miranda and an award from the International Voluntary Service (IVS) in Washington, D.C. for his contribution to the Arts in the Caribbean and the Médaille de la Cité de Paris (bronze) by the former Mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac, at the 7th Salon of Painters and Sculptors from Overseas in 1994.
Holder’s latter years were dedicated to curating annual exhibitions at 101 Art Gallery in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.
Christian Holder notes that after the passing of his father, in 2007, “several of his paintings have been included in exhibitions at the Michael Werner Gallery in Berlin, and the Victoria Miro Gallery in London.”
A Subtlety, Domino Sugar Refinery, Williamsburg, Brooklyn. A project of Creative Time (2014) by Kara Walker
4. Kara Walker
Contemporary African-American artist, Kara Walker is a renowned painter, silhouettist, print-maker, installation artist, filmmaker, and professor known for candidly examining topics such as race, stereotypes, identity, slavery, gender and, sexuality, violence as they relate to American history. Her work focuses on black and white collaged silhouettes on large scale tableaux.
Walker was born on November 26th 1969 in Stockton, California, thereafter she was raised in Atlanta, Georgia until the age of 13. In 1991, Walker earned a BFA at the Atlanta College of Art and 3 years later, she was awarded an MFA painting and printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design. Then, in 1997 at the age of 28, Walker was one of the youngest recipients of the MacArthur Fellowship as well as other notable awards such as the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Achievement Award in 1997 and the United States Artists, Eileen Harris Norton Fellowship in 2008.
Walker’s biography on Artnet.com highlights that her style has been influenced by conceptual photographer, Lorna Simpson and conceptual artist, Adrian Piper who all explore feminism and societal beauty standards, themes which are translated in Walker’s pieces such as “A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby (2014)”, a colossal sculpture depicting a black woman as a sphinx at the former Domino Sugar Factory in Brooklyn.
She currently resides and works in New York where her work is also represented in collections at The Museum of Modern Art in New York. They has equally been exhibited across the United States of America at locations such as The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles and the Museum of Modern Art in Fort Worth alongside her solo exhibitions both in the US, the UK and Northern Ireland at the Art Institute of Chicago Camden Arts Centre in London, and Metropolitan Arts Center (MAC) in Belfast.
From The Kitchen Table Series by Carrie Mae Weems
5. Carrie Mae Weems
Born on born April 20th, 1953 in Portland, Orgeon, Carrie Mae Weems is an prolific artist and photographer who explores themes such as family relationships, cultural identity, sexism, class, political systems, and the consequences of power through her work.
Throughout her career, she has continually grown to be recognized as an influential figure in the arts with one of many notable points being her impactful photographic project The Kitchen Table Series which captures 20 photographs taken in her kitchen with the setup being very simple with a wooden table and an overhead light but it’s the simplicity of the series that speaks ions. According to Artsy’s review of the series, “initially, there is the span of a romantic relationship: at first warm and intimate, then cold and wanting. Across the scenes, Weems changes roles as others join her in the room. She moves from lover to friend to mother and to herself, alone. She commands the stage—she plays a woman aware of the viewer, sometimes stealing a glance while others remain oblivious, at other times directly confronting the camera.” Without a doubt, this series is a pivotal staple that has inspired many. As indicated by the New York Times, Weems’ has also been “cited as an influence on the videos for Beyoncé’s song “Lemonade” and continues to be a source of influence and inspiration for many generations.
This phenomenal artist and photographer’s work has been showcased in many exhibitions at museums across the globe including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Frist Center for Visual Art, Solomon Guggenheim Museum in New York, and the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo in Seville, Spain.
Weems’ biography outlines that along with her impressive exhibition history, she has also been the recipient of many awards, grants, and fellowships, such as the prestigious Prix de Roma, The National Endowment of the Arts, The Alpert, The Anonymous was a Woman, and The Tiffany Awards. Notably, 2012 marked the year that Weems was awarded the honour of being one of the first recipients of the US Department of State’s Medals of Arts which acknowledged her dedication to the State Department’s Art in Embassies program and a year later, she earned the MacArthur “Genius” Grant and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award amongst many other distinguished awards.
Her work is held in numerous collections worldwide such as that of Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY (the city where she currently resides with her husband), The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Museum of Modern Art, NY; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and The Tate Modern, London.