Black Artists You Should Know

(Born in 1973 in Columbus, Georgia) is most known for painting the official portrait of former first lady Michelle Obama. She aims for her audience to imagine life outside of the circumscribed stereotype.

(African American born in 1958, in Ventura, CA) Taylor is an African American painter whose enigmatic works include portraits of psychiatric patients, historical figures, and friends.

(1891-1978) was an important role model for women and African Americans. She was the first African American woman to have a solo exhibition. She created expressionism and realism art.

(American painter, born in Los Angeles, CA in 1977) His art focuses on extreme naturalistic paintings of African Americans that frequently reference the work of Old Master paintings.

(1938-2009) was an African-American painter, well known for depicting the relationship between art and life to the public through his work.

(Nigerian, born 1985 in Ife, Nigeria)

Her art focuses on the idea of identity and meaning.

She was named artist of the year at the 2020 Apollo Awards.

(American, born 1976, in Kalamazoo, MI) is a painter, sculptor, filmmaker, and installation artist that confronts history by dismantling classic structures and styles of visual representation.

(Boston, Massachusetts, 1905-1998) was a black artist during the Harlem Renaissance. Jones focused her attention toward Africa and the Carribean as well as her own experiences.

Was Born in 1976 in D.E. and lives in L.A.) Her art is merging sharp hyper-realism with poetic abstraction. She uses the complicated duality of water as a platform to address identity and politics while also reimagining her subjects beyond cultural tropes.

is a painter and illustrator based in Los Angeles. He is most known for his painting featured on Drake's album cover and the New Yorker.

Lucille Clifton is an American poet, writer, and educator. Her work emphasis strength and endurance through adversity, focusing specifically on the African- American perspective.

Maya Angelou was an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. "Still I Rise" is one of the most well known spoken word poems. Maya Angelou is an icon to black history, literature, and culture.

Claude McKay was a poet and Jamaican writer. He was a well known figure in the Harlem Renaissance. One of his best known works is "If we must die."

Royalty is a spoken word poet most known for his performance titled "Letter To Your Flag."

(American, born 1990 in Harlem, New York, NY) is a young female black artist who creates large scale paintings to create a new “rhetoric” for black people and people of color. Self highlights “the intersectionality of race, gender and sexuality.”

(1930-Present)

She is mainly known for her quilts that she had made in the 1980’s. Her art was used to show her political beliefs and her want for racial integration in the New York art world.

(born in Orange, New Jersey in 1973) is an artist who creates her art pieces through quilts that represents and honors African Americans whose stories were untold throughout history. She started making quilted art after joining a fabrics class.

(British, born 1989 in London, United Kingdom) His art is inspired by black history, myth, and self-portraiture. He employs techniques from West African weaving and quilting from the American South and European tapestry.

(1970 and still going)

This guy breaks barriers by having his art in multiple museums. He tries to make his art relate to religion and african american history.

(Feb 29, 1892 - Mar 27, 1962) was a sculptor during the Harlem renaissance. During her life she fought to create spaces for black artists to have their work appreciated. I like how she captured emotion in the face of her subject.

(born in 1967 in Chicago IL.) Simone is a trained ceramicist she works mainly on sculptures and combines modern sculptural art with African diaspora art

Born: 1993 (age 28 years)

Arinze is a Nigerian artist, activist, photographer, engineer, and entrepreneur. He is best known for creating hyper realistic pencil drawing.

(1918-1979) Charles Made images that were described by some gallariest as images of dignity, which he also adopted as a title for them. White focused on civil rights and segregation.

Born in April 15 1915, died in April 2 2012. This 20th century artist and sculpture was made famous from her work that focused on the experiences she had as a black women.

(1970 — )

Is an American artist who focuses on self image and how modern culture influences it. His art also focuses on how African American's experiences intersect with art history and consumerism.

is an Ethiopian photographer and contemporary artist, based in Addis Ababa.

Logan is a black photographer. He has been in the fashion business for 25+ years, his artwork is known for being black and white.

(born in 1983) is a Nigerian-born visual artist working in Los Angeles, California. Her art portrays historical, political, and personal references. She creates densely layered compositions that conjure the complexity of contemporary experience.

(born in London, England and raised in Cheyenne, WY,) is a Black-Indian artist that uses unconventional canvases to depict the effects of slavery and other societal issues within her communities.

Is a 23 year old from Trinidad and Tobago. Her artwork is a reflection of her not only as an artist but as a black woman because these are experiences of injustice specifically with black woman and men with issues like sex trafficking that's affected her and many others.