Ishmael Scott Reed is an American poet, novelist, essayist, songwriter, playwright, editor and publisher known for his satirical works challenging American political culture. Perhaps his best-known work is Mumbo Jumbo (1972), a sprawling and unorthodox novel set in 1920s New York.
The Black Arts Movement (BAM) was an African American-led art movement, active during the 1960s and 1970s. Through activism and art, BAM created new cultural institutions and conveyed a message of black pride.
Kara Elizabeth Walker is an American contemporary painter, silhouettist, print-maker, installation artist, filmmaker, and professor who explores race, gender, sexuality, violence, and identity in her work. She is best known for her room-size tableaux of black cut-paper silhouettes. Walker has been the Tepper Chair in Visual Arts at the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University since 2015.
African-American art is a broad term describing visual art created by Americans who also identify as Black. The range of art they have created, and are continuing to create, over more than two centuries is as varied as the artists themselves. Some have drawn on cultural traditions in Africa, and other parts of the world, for inspiration. Others have found inspiration in traditional African-American plastic art forms, including basket weaving, pottery, quilting, woodcarving and painting, all of which are sometimes classified as "handicrafts" or "Folk Art."
Mendi Obadike and Keith Obadike are a married Igbo Nigerian American couple who create music and art. They were both born in 1973. Their music, live art and conceptual Internet artworks have been exhibited internationally. Mendi is a poet and Keith is a composer and sound designer.
Paul Gilroy is an English sociologist and cultural studies scholar who is the founding Director of the Sarah Parker Remond Centre for the Study of Race and Racism at University College, London. Gilroy is the 2019 winner of the €660,000 Holberg Prize, for "his outstanding contributions to a number of academic fields, including cultural studies, critical race studies, sociology, history, anthropology and African-American studies".
Demetria Royals is an American director, producer, and Film editor.
Carrie Mae Weems is an American artist working in text, fabric, audio, digital images and installation video, and is best known for her photography. She achieved prominence through her early 1990s photographic project The Kitchen Table Series. Her photographs, films and videos focus on serious issues facing African Americans today, including racism, sexism, politics and personal identity.
Hank Willis Thomas is an American conceptual artist working primarily with themes related to identity, history, and popular culture.
Judith Shea is an American sculptor and artist, born in Philadelphia, PA in 1948. She received a degree in Fashion Design at Parsons School of Design in 1969 and a BFA in 1975. This dual education formed the basis for her figure based works. Her career has three distinct phases: The use of cloth and clothing forms from 1974 to 1981; Hollow cast metal clothng-figure forms from 1982 until 1991; and carved full figure statues made of wood, cloth, clay, foam and hair beginning in 1990 to present.
Jonah Bokaer is an American choreographer and media artist. He works on live performances in the United States and elsewhere, including choreography, digital media, cross-disciplinary collaborations, and social enterprise.
Michael Rolando Richards was an African-American sculptor of Jamaican and Costa Rican ancestry who was killed on September 11, 2001, during the World Trade Center attack while in his art studio on the 92nd Floor of the World Trade Center's North Tower. He explored his African-American history and identity through sculpture, conceptual art, and installation pieces. Influenced by the Black Arts Movement of the 1970s, Richards delved into African-American history and folklore for images that would expose the contradictions of American society. Richards worked primarily in bronze.
Adam Pendleton is an American conceptual artist known for his multi-disciplinary practice, involving painting, silkscreen, collage, video, performance, and word art. His work often involves the investigation of language and the recontextualization of history through appropriated imagery.
Oreet Ashery is an Israeli interdisciplinary artist based in London.
Michael Paul Britto is a New York contemporary artist who explores the consequences of racial inequality through photography, video, collage, sculpture and performance. Britto shines a light on important racial issues using contemporary art. His work has been exhibited predominantly in New York, but also internationally, with exhibitions in Spain, Poland, and England. In 2004, he won the Individual Artist grant from New York State Council of The Arts, and in 2005, he was awarded the Media Arts Fellowship Grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.
Kambui Olujimi is a New York-based visual artist working across disciplines using installation, photography, performance, tapestry, works on paper, video, large sculptures and painting. His artwork reflects on public discourse, mythology, historical narrative, social practices, exchange, mediated cultures, resilience and autonomy.
Carole Marie Byard was an American visual artist, illustrator, and photographer. She was an award-winning illustrator of children's books, and the recipient of a Caldecott Honor, as well as multiple Coretta Scott King Awards.
Faye Driscoll is an American dancer, choreographer, and director. Her works have been presented throughout the United States and around the world. On Broadway, Driscoll choreographed Young Jean Lee's play Straight White Men. Driscoll also choreographed Josephine Decker's film Madeline's Madeline.
Rashaad Newsome is an American artist working at the intersection of assemblage, technology, sculpture, video, music, and performance. Newsome's work celebrates and abstracts Black and Queer contributions to the art canon, resulting in innovative and inclusive forms of culture and media. He lives and works in Oakland, California and Brooklyn, New York.
Akintola Hanif is an American photographer based in Newark, New Jersey.
