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Ep.271 Ruba Katrib is Chief Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs at MoMA PS1 in New York, where she steers the museum’s program and is a member of the leadership team. At PS1 she has curated exhibitions such as The Gatherers (2025), Ayoung Kim: Delivery Dancers Codex (2025), Sohrab Hura: Mother (2024), Rirkrit Tiravanija: A LOT OF PEOPLE (with Yasmil Raymond, 2023), Jumana Manna: Break, Take, Erase, Tally (2022), Frieda Toranzo Jaeger: Autonomous Drive (2022), Greater New York (2021), Niki de Saint Phalle: Structures for Life (2021), Simone Fattal’s retrospective in 2019, and solo shows by Edgar Heap of Birds (2019), Karrabing Collective (2019), Fernando Palma Rodríguez, and Julia Phillips (2018). From 2012–2018 she was the Curator at SculptureCenter in New York, where she organized over twenty exhibitions including 74 million million million tons (2018, co-organized with artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan) and solo shows by Carissa Rodriguez, Kelly Akashi, Sam Anderson, Teresa Burga, Nicola L., Charlotte Prodger, Rochelle Goldberg, Aki Sasamoto, Cosima von Bonin, Anthea Hamilton, Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, Magali Reus, Gabriel Sierra, Erika Verzutti, and David Douard. In 2018, Katrib co-curated SITE Santa Fe’s biennial, Casa Tomada, along with José Luis Blondet and Candice Hopkins. She is an advisory board member of CCA Berlin and a board member of Topical Cream, and regularly writes for periodicals and museum catalogues. Photo credit : John Kim Ruba Katrib https://www.rubakatrib.com/ MoMA https://www.moma.org/magazine/authors/92 MoMA PS1 https://www.momaps1.org/en/events/663-ayoung-kim-in-conversation-with-dawn-chan-and-ruba-katrib MoMA Greater New York Artists https://www.momaps1.org/en/programs/754-greater-new-york-artist-talks Venice Biennale Qatar Pavilion Announcement Art Basel Unlimited Announcement Unlimited May 26, 2026 interview https://www.artbasel.com/stories/art-basel-2026-unlimited-ruba-katrib-moma-ps1-curator Biennial Foundation https://biennialfoundation.org/2026/04/national-pavilion-of-qatar-at-the-61st-venice-biennale-presents-untitled-2026-a-gathering-of-remarkable-people/ Qatar Museums https://qm.org.qa/en/calendar/untitled-2026/Art Newspaper https://www.artnewspaper.fr/2025/09/02/ruba-katrib-nommee-commissaire-du-secteur-unlimited-dart-basel Document Journal https://www.documentjournal.com/2025/10/the-curators-shaping-the-future-of-archives-ruba-katrib/ Le Quotidien De l’Art https://www.lequotidiendelart.com/articles/27830-ruba-katrib-commissaire-d-unlimited-%C3%A0-art-basel-2026.html Anderson Ranch https://www.andersonranch.org/people/ruba-katrib/ Oolite Arts https://oolitearts.org/event/talks-ruba-katrib/ Site Santa Fe https://www.sitesantafe.org/en/artists/ruba-katrib/ Culturalee https://culturalee.art/art-basel-names-ruba-katrib-as-curator-of-unlimited-sector/ Cultured https://www.culturedmag.com/article/2025/09/02/art-basel-unlimited-ruba-katrib-curator/ Canvas https://canvasonline.com/ruba-katrib-appointed-curator-of-art-basel-unlimited/ Dazed https://www.dazed.me/news/forever-and-always-ruba-katribs-favourite-selection-of-dazed-mena-features

Ep.270 Working primarily within the medium of painting AYOTUNDE OJO is a Nigerian artist whose practice explores the emotional intensity of human relationships and experiences. Born in 1995, Ayotunde Ojo is a Nigerian artist whose practice explores the emotional intensity of human relationships and experiences. Working primarily within the medium of painting, his work draws inspiration from the intimate moments in daily life, the unspoken language of bodily gestures and the hidden tranquillity of interior spaces. “I am interested in making paintings that contemplate the silent conversations that go on between self and space, pivoting between scenes of everyday life,” he has noted. “I am drawn to the idea of solitude and the melancholy that often accompanies these moments within a lived space.” Whether representing himself or close friends, Ojo views his paintings as self-portraits influenced by memory, the subconscious, encounters and exchange with people and his environment. Ojo completed a degree in fine art and graphic design from the Yaba College of Technology in Lagos in 2018. He works in a variety of mediums including charcoal, pastel, oil and acrylic, and embraces a muted colour palette, allowing for subtle tones and delicate hues to create an introspective and somber mood. His debut solo exhibition, These Four Walls, opened in 2024 at Southern Guild Cape Town. Ojo’s work has otherwise been included in group shows at Volery Gallery (Dubai), Harper’s Books (New York), Dida Gallery (Abidjan), Ko Gallery (Lagos), Rele Gallery (Lagos), and Mauani Mercier Gallery (Zaventem, Belgium). He has held residencies at Superzoom Art Gallery in Paris, and Southern Guild’s GUILD Residency in Cape Town in 2024. Southern Guild has also presented his work at Investec Cape Town Art Fair (2024) and at Expo Chicago (2024). Photo: Courtesy of the artist. Artist https://www.ojoayotunde.com/ Southern Guild https://southernguild.com/artists/ayotunde-ojo Tiwani Contemporary https://www.tiwani.co.uk/artists/132-ayotunde-ojo/ Litro Magazine https://www.litromagazine.com/arts-and-culture/ayotunde-ojos-rooms-refuse-to-stay-still-at-tiwani-contemporary-lagos/ Volery Gallery https://www.volerygallery.com/ojo-ayotunde Metal Magazine https://metalmagazine.eu/en/post/ojo-ayotunde-a-call-to-pause Maruani Mercier https://maruanimercier.com/artworks/4240-ojo-ayotunde-unanswered-2023/ Frieze https://www.frieze.com/tags/ayotunde-ojo | https://www.frieze.com/event/ayotunde-ojo-life-its-own Knowthisartist https://knowthisartist.com/artists/ayotunde-ojo C& | Contemporaryand https://contemporaryand.com/en/events/ayotunde-ojo-these-four-walls

Ep.269 Chidy Wayne (Spain, 1981) is a Spanish-Guinean artist working primarily in painting and sculpture. His practice addresses fundamental questions such as identity and inner conflict through a gestural, material-based figuration that incorporates oils, acrylics, textured surfaces, and sculptures in wood, iron or plaster. Influenced by both the artistic avant-garde and ancestral cultural elements, Wayne revisits the primitive through a contemporary language, building a repertoire of signs with timeless resonance. His work establishes a dialogue between the rational and the instinctive, where matter becomes language and the energy of gesture acquires a spiritual dimension. Each piece confronts the viewer with their own human condition. Wayne’s body of work inhabits the space between the archaic and the contemporary, the intimate and the collective. From this position, he consolidates a practice that connects the force of the ancestral with the forms of the present. Photographed by: Maral Fard Artist https://chidywayne.com/ Southern Guild https://southernguild.com/artists/chidy-wayne Grege Gallery https://www.gregegallery.com/artists/chidy-wayne Francis Gallery https://francisgallery.com/exhibitions/ancestral-futures Frieze 2026 https://www.thecut.com/article/frieze-new-york-2026-art-scene-report-people-watching.html Imagicasa https://imagicasa.be/en/story/past-and-imagination-chidy-wayne-at-male-castle Luxembourg Art Week https://luxembourgartweek.lu/en/programme/chidy-wayne-solid-ego-005 Art Paris https://www.artparis.com/fr/gallery/4204 Boon Paris https://boonparis.com/chidy-wayne Sight Unseen https://www.sightunseen.com/2024/02/chidy-wayne-artist/ Creative Voyage https://creative.voyage/products/chidy-wayne-in-the-mirror?srsltid=AfmBOoq4pAl2IYXKeU_dEy2nwMNEatrMQteZkTChRRX153i4wMuc4n0G Milk Decoration https://www.milkdecoration.com/los-angeles-le-peintre-chidy-wayne-expose-ses-oeuvres-neo-primitives-a-la-francis-gallery/ Artsper https://www.artsper.com/fr/artistes-contemporains/espagne/113865/chidy-wayne Art Shortlist https://artshortlist.com/fr/artiste/chidy-wayne Boon Room https://boon-room.com/talents/42-chidy-wayne/?srsltid=AfmBOopS-37afSKbWM4Jre6mlL7BkYdp1EB7dcb3mED_FfMHWxycAQ1F

Ep.268 Laurena Finéus is a Haitian-Canadian interdisciplinary artist working primarily in painting, performance and social practice. In her practice, Finéus has been concerned with representations of black geographies, maroon thought, and migratory histories through an array of painterly imagined landscapes. The teachings of Haitian scholar Michel-Rolph Trouillot in ‘Silencing the past’ informs her understanding of visual narration in her practice. Finéus’ strategies include the collapsing of history in order to question its production and mechanisms. Finéus is an MFA graduate from Columbia University (2024) and the University of Ottawa with a Bachelor of Fine arts (2020). Her work has been exhibited at the SHED NY (2025), Brooklyn Museum (2024), Hudson River museum (2023), the Ottawa art gallery (2021), and Art mûr (2019) among others . She is part of a range of private and public collections internationally such as the Canada Council Art Bank , the City of Ottawa’s Art Collection and Google. She is the recipient of the Saunderson Prize (2024), the Helen Frankenthaler fund (2023), the Elizabeth Greenshields foundation grant (2022-2023) , the Ottawa arts council IBPOC emerging artist award (2022), and the Ineke Harmina Standish memorial (2019). Finéus is based in Brooklyn, NY. Credit Photo: Avery Savage for SHEER WORLDWIDE Artist https://laurenafineus.com/ Fridman Gallery https://fridmangallery.com/2025/07/03/artists-laurena-fineus/ Essence https://www.essence.com/art/the-shed-nyc-portals-exhibition/ Columbia University https://www.vaexhibitions.arts.columbia.edu/class-of-2024/laurena-finus University of Ottawa https://www.uottawa.ca/fr/toutes-nouvelles/celebrer-lhistoire-culture-haitiennes-travers-lart-laurena-fineus Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/janelevere/2025/07/27/early-career-nyc-artists-display-new-work-at-the-shed-in-hudson-yards/ Hyperallergic https://hyperallergic.com/these-are-the-200-artists-in-the-brooklyn-museum-open-call-show/ Juxtapoz https://www.juxtapoz.com/news/magazine/features/laurena-fineus-love-letters-to-haiti/ Sheer Worldwide https://www.sheerworldwide.com/art/features/2025/8/7/artists-to-know-laurena-finus Jenkins Johnson Gallery https://www.jenkinsjohnsongallery.com/artworks/4308-laurena-fineus-nou-te-gen-yon-paradi-pou-antere-we-2022/ Blackcopper https://www.blackcopper.org/featured-artists/l Ambassade-Haiti https://ambassade-haiti.ca/uncategorized/laurena-fineus/ Haitian Times https://haitiantimes.com/fr/%C3%89tiquette/laurena-fineus/ The Next Contemporary https://thenextcontemporary.com/laurena-fineus/ Haiti Cultural Exchange https://haiticulturalx.org/programs/artists-opportunities/lakou-nou/laurena-fineus/

Modou Dieng Yacine . Born in Saint-Louis (Senegal), Modou Dieng Yacine studied at the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Dakar (Senegal) and later earned an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in California. He currently lives and works in Chicago, and is also active as a curator/co-founder of the curatorial company Blackpuffin. Dieng Yacine works across painting, photography, collage, and mixed media. He often uses non-traditional materials such as denim, burlap, cardboard, vinyl records, archival prints, and hybrid materials layered onto surfaces. He explores spatial/architectural motifs, layering of materials, de-construction of façades, and reveals negative space (cut-outs, hollows) as a strategy. Major themes in his practices are identity, migration, postcolonial history, architecture & habitat, and the intersection of African and Western cultures. Dieng Yacine references the notion of asymmetrical parallelism (a term from poet/philosopher Léopold Sédar Senghor) to describe rhythmic repetition in time/space, which he applies in his compositions. The structure of the canvas itself often becomes part of the message (e.g., exposing stretcher bars, hollows behind façades) to comment on erasure, grief or absence. Modou Dieng Yacine is represented in numerous collections, among these are the collections of the Studio Museum in New York, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in Washington DC, Gervanne and Mathias Lerind Collection in Paris, Kranzberg foundation in St Louis, Fondation Gandur in Geneva and Carlsberg foundation in Copenhagen. Image courtesy of artist Artist as Curator Blackpuffin.co 193 Gallery https://www.193gallery.com/fr/artists/62-modou-dieng-yacine/ ICI https://curatorsintl.org/collaborators/22963-modou-dieng-yacine Specta https://www.specta.dk/modou-dieng-yacine Dakart News https://dakartnews.com/2025/05/02/modou-dieng-yacines-poetics-of-memory-and-identity-interview/ Artsper https://www.artsper.com/fr/artistes-contemporains/senegal/117864/modou-dieng-yacine Povos Chicago https://povoschicago.com/usr/documents/exhibitions/list_of_works_url/33/steve-doc-modou.pdf Laboratório de Actividades Criativas https://lac.org.pt/en/roots-2025-modou-dieng-yacine-sn/ Meer https://www.meer.com/en/97714-i-will-go-where-your-music-takes-me-dot-dot-dot Artisanal Metals https://artisanalmetals.com/2025/05/05/from-dakar-to-venice-the-postcolonial-art-journey-of-modou-dieng-yacine/ On-Art Media https://www.onart.media/evenements-autour-de-lart-contemporain-africain/black-venezia-une-exploration-artistique-de-modou-dieng-yacine-a-la-193-gallery/ Pilchuck https://www.pilchuck.org/workshop-staff/modou-dieng-yacine Juliet Art Magazine https://www.juliet-artmagazine.com/en/the-imaginary-architecture-of-connections-modou-dieng-yacine-and-zoila-andrea-coc-chang-in-venice/

Ep.266 Born in Lagos State, Nigeria, contemporary artist Tonia Nneji comes from a long line of traditional carvers and masquerade carriers. Following the family tradition of artistry, she graduated with a BA (Hons) in Visual Arts from the University of Lagos, Nigeria in 2016. Known for her use of bold colours and intricate patterns, Nneji’s work explores the relationship between trauma and the female body. Drawing from her experience in dealing with personal health issues, she confronts a culture of suppression and silence on women’s physical and mental health, body autonomy and sexual harassment in a bid to create safe spaces where conversations could be held freely. Her work also investigates the nature of commemorative fabrics and the ways they represent and transcend notions of place and belonging. This preoccupation with body forms and textile material navigates cultural and social meanings of fabric in contemporary African societies while also exploring the protective qualities of clothing. She held her debut solo exhibition You May Enter in 2020 at Rele Gallery, Lagos. Select group exhibitions include Dancing in Dark Times, (2021), Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London, Orita Meta, (2021), Rele Gallery, Los Angeles, IT'S A WRAP, (2021), Rele Gallery, Lagos. She has also presented her work at Art Basel Miami (2022), Art Dubai (2022), Art Paris (2021) and FNB Art Joburg (2019). In 2020, Nneji was a resident at the Art Dubai residency and is a recipient of the Ronke Ekwensi Fellowship in New Jersey. Nneji’s works have been featured in prominent publications such as Nation Newspaper, Vanguard, and the Guardian and in 2017, she was featured on BBC Africa during International Women’s Day. Her work has also been profiled by prolific Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie in her essay ‘The New Guard’ published by Harper’s Bazaar in 2020. Photo credit: Tonia Nneji Rele Gallery https://www.rele.co/artists/31-tonia-nneji/works/ Galerie-Chauvy https://galerie-chauvy.com/exposition/voix-du-textile-2025-2026/ Kristin Hjellegjerde https://kristinhjellegjerde.com/artists/368-tonia-nneji/overview/ Art Berlin https://www.artatberlin.com/en/jamie-luoto-and-tonia-nneji-when-dusk-falls-kristin-hjellegjerde-gallery-18-07-31-08-2024/ Forbes ForbesAfrica30Under30 list, Class of 2022 Meer https://www.meer.com/en/105514-saints-of-good-evening-street BODE https://bode.gallery/blog/57-in-conversation-with-tonia-nneji-episode-26/ CNAP https://www.cnap.fr/annuaire/personne/tonia-nneji Art Forum https://www.artforum.com/events/tonia-nneji-248150/ Selvedge https://www.selvedge.org/blogs/selvedge/painting-patterned-fabrics-the-art-of-tonia-nneji?srsltid=AfmBOoobkW-p6NlRPC4cCYGX2GQfcdtGuCzkw2kMqzD-Qn2seZj5jExx C& https://contemporaryand.com/fr/collections/tonia-nneji Forbes ForbesAfrica30Under30 list, Class of 2022 This Day https://www.thisdaylive.com/2026/03/15/an-artists-haunting-nocturnes-of-lagoss-underbelly/ The Lagos Review https://thelagosreview.ng/tonia-nneji-says-you-may-enter-at-rele/ Flaunt https://www.flaunt.com/blog/rele-contemporary Hyperallergic https://hyperallergic.com/rele-gallery-opens-in-los-angeles/ Vogue https://www.vogue.com/article/tonia-nneji-and-zohra-opoku-narratives-of-healing

Ep. 265| Through her dynamic, celebratory quilted portraits of people of African decent , Bisa Butler (b. 1973, Orange, NJ) investigates the purposes and potential of portraiture within the Black historical narrative. Butler's influences range widely from personal family scrapbooks to American folk traditions and AfriCOBRA philosophies. Although her finished works are made entirely of textiles, Butler approaches the medium from a painterly perspective. Sourcing imagery mainly from photographs, she uses layered fabrics and quilting to create unique compositions , psychological depth and detailed textures that she found missing from her paintings. By returning to textiles, Butler has reconnected with her family's history since it was her grandmother and mother who taught her to sew. Bisa Butler lives in Orange, New Jersey and has a studio in Jersey City. Butler earned her BFA in painting at Howard University, Washington, D.C. in 1995 and holds a MAT in teaching art from Montclair State University, New Jersey. Her work has been exhibited widely, both domestically and internationally at institutions such as The Art Institute of Chicago, The Newark Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Bisa was named an honorary doctorate or letters from Bloomfield College . This past fall her sold out solo exhibition at the Jeffrey Deitch Gallery was widely attended. She is preparing for a major museum exhibition opening in spring 2027 Photo by Javier Romero Artist http://www.bisabutler.com/ Jeffrey Deitch https://deitch.com/artists/bisa-butler Art Institute Chicago https://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/9324/bisa-butler-portraits | https://www.artic.edu/artists/116361/bisa-butler Howard University https://thedig.howard.edu/featured-people/bisa-butler Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco https://www.famsf.org/events/talk-quilted-portraits-artist-bisa-butler Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture https://nmaahc.si.edu/events/afrofuturism-big-objects-big-stories-i-go-prepare-place-you-bisa-butler-34 | https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2021.38 Smithsonian American Art Museum https://americanart.si.edu/artist/bisa-butler-32332 Gordon Parks Foundation https://www.gordonparksfoundation.org/exhibitions/gordon-parks-foundation-gallery/bisa-butler-materfamilias Museum of Fine Art Boston https://www.mfa.org/video/bisa-butler-quilting-for-culture Katonah Museum of Art https://www.katonahmuseum.org/exhibitions/exhibition/bisa-butler-portraits Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design https://www.vasd.rmcad.edu/bisa-butler Essence https://www.essence.com/art/bisa-butler-quilts-beauty-into-being/ New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/t-magazine/jill-scott-bisa-butler.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&fbclid=PAdGRleAP60BRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAad80NN9Z1xbX_GBvQWGHtwglbhOx8NSZJl4eqBeWclM56CSbPp0MLiVrfKOlg_aem_8fKfZPZF634x_3yc1N8dIA | https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/15/special-series/quilting-textiles-bisa-butler.htm Colossal https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/09/bisa-butler-hold-me-close-quilted-portraits-exhibition/ Artsy https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-bisa-butlers-enigmatic-quilted-portraits-draw-iconic-images-black-history Juxtopoz https://www.juxtapoz.com/news/magazine/features/bisa-butler-stitching-history/ World of African Art United https://waau-art.com/highlights/artist-in-focus-bisa-butler/ Scholastic https://art.scholastic.com/pages/special-collections/text-sets/bisa-butler.html | Magazine https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/bisa-butler-quilts-portraits-vibrant-color-180982331/ ARTnews https://www.artnews.com/art-news/artists/how-i-made-this-bisa-butlers-quilt-portraits-1234614612/ Craft in America https://www.craftinamerica.org/artist/bisa-butler/ | https://www.craftinamerica.org/short/bisa-butlers-influences/ United States Artists https://www.unitedstatesartists.org/artists/bisa-butler

Ep.264 features Aida Muluneh. Born in Addis Ababa in 1974, she graduated from Howard University in Washington, D.C., with a degree in Communications, majoring in Film. Her photography has been widely published and is included in the permanent collections of prestigious institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art, the Hood Museum, the RISD Museum of Art, and the Museum of Biblical Art in the United States. Muluneh received the European Union Prize at the Rencontres Africaines de la Photographie in Bamako, Mali, in 2007, the CRAF International Award of Photography in Spilimbergo, Italy, in 2010, and was a CatchLight Fellow in San Francisco, USA, in 2018. In 2020, she was honored with the Royal Photographic Society Award in Curatorship. In 2019, Muluneh became the first black woman to co-curate the Nobel Peace Prize exhibition and returned the following year as a commissioned artist for the prize. Her commissioned projects use creativity to educate and advocate on topics related to the environment and health. Her work has been exhibited globally and published in key publications worldwide. As a leader in her field, she has been recognized as a change-maker in Africa, shifting perceptions of the continent. As a prominent Canon brand ambassador, Muluneh is deeply committed to advocating for the development of photography in Africa through her educational programs across the continent. She is the founder of Addis Foto Fest (AFF), the first international photography festival in East Africa, held since 2010 in Addis Ababa, and the Africa Foto Fair, established in 2022 in Côte d’Ivoire. The Africa Foto Fair is both an exhibition and a virtual publication that brings emerging and established talents to the global photography community. Additionally, she established the Africa Print House, which offers fine art photography printing through her studio in Abidjan—a creative space that provides end-to-end solutions for photographers in Africa. As an educator and cultural entrepreneur, she continues to develop projects with local and international institutions in Ethiopia and Côte d’Ivoire. Photo credit: Mario Epanya Artist https://aidamuluneh.com/ Efie Gallery https://efiegallery.com/ ffoto Gallery https://www.ffotogallery.org/whats-on-listings/aida-muluneh-nationhood-memory-and-hope Art in the Middle Magazine https://www.artinthemiddle.com/exhibition/aida-muluneh-efie-gallery-exhibition-spotlight-2026 Impressions Gallery https://www.impressions-gallery.com/resource/meet-the-artist-aida-muluneh/ Canon France https://www.canon.fr/pro/ambassadors/aida-muluneh/ MoMA https://www.moma.org/artists/68306-aida-muluneh Photography Ethics Center https://www.photoethics.org/podcast/aida-muluneh Africa Art News https://www.africaartnews.com/posts/aida-muluneh-exhibition-this-bloom-i-borrow The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/may/29/photographer-aida-muluneh-necessity-of-seeing-bradford-city-culture C& https://www.contemporaryand.com/fr/events/aida-muluneh-the-homeless-wanderer Aesthetica Magazine https://aestheticamagazine.com/aida-muluneh-an-unparalleled-voice/ 1-54 https://www.1-54.com/nowness-trailer-water-life-by-ethiopian-photographer-aida-muluneh/ Phmuseum https://phmuseum.com/exhibitions/the-homeless-wanderer-by-aida-muluneh-at-galleria-giampaolo-abbondio VOGUE https://www.vogue.com/article/the-homeless-wanderer-a-oneiric-visual-exploration-of-identity-and-belonging-by-aida-muluneh Jakopic Gallery https://mgml.si/en/jakopic-gallery/exhibitions/692/aida-muluneh/ Textile Museum https://textilemuseum.ca/event/aida-muluneh-water-life/ David Krut Projects https://davidkrutprojects.com/artists/35609/aida-muluneh

Mickalene Thomas is a globally celebrated multidisciplinary artist renowned for her dazzling, rhinestone-studded portraits that boldly reimagine the representation of Black women in contemporary art. Working across painting, photography, collage, video, and installation, Thomas creates vibrant, layered compositions that explore complex themes of race, gender, identity, sexuality, and beauty. Her visual language draws from 1970s aesthetics, African textiles, domestic spaces, personal histories, and iconic moments in art history. By referencing figures like Manet, Matisse, and Romare Bearden, she both honors and disrupts the Eurocentric art canon—placing empowered images of Black women at the center. Her work unapologetically challenges traditional beauty standards and amplifies narratives often excluded from mainstream art spaces. Thomas’s pieces are part of permanent collections at major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Smithsonian, solidifying her role as a leading figure in contemporary visual culture. Beyond her studio practice, Thomas is a visionary curator, mentor, and educator. She actively supports emerging artists—especially women, LGBTQ+ creatives, and artists of color—through mentorship, community engagement, and inclusive curatorial work. She is also a Tony-nominated co-producer, further demonstrating the reach of her creativity across disciplines. In 2023, Thomas made history as the first Black queer femme artist to have a scholarship endowed in her name at Yale University, her alma mater. This milestone reflects her commitment to fostering access and equity in the arts for future generations. Her influence only deepened in 2025 — a landmark year— in which she was named one of TIME100’s Most Influential People, became the first African-American artist to be honored with a major solo show at the Grand Palais in Paris, and was the Keynote Speaker at Rutgers University-Camden’s Commencement. She has received prestigious accolades, including the Creative Capital Award, the Hirshhorn Museum’s National Arts Award, the Queens Museum Honoree distinction, and the Joan Shepp Woman of Substance & Style honor. She was named Honorary Co-Chair of the Dance Theatre of Harlem and was recognized at the NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health 150th Anniversary Gala for her monumental mosaic “Freesia on My Mind: The Beauty of Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” on permanent display at the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hospital in Brooklyn. Mickalene Thomas continues to break boundaries and elevate underrepresented voices through her bold visual storytelling, cultural leadership, and unwavering commitment to justice and representation. Her work not only transforms how we see beauty and identity—it also redefines who gets to be seen, celebrated, and remembered in the world of art and beyond. Photo credit: © Chad Kirkland, 2019

Ep.262 Kathia St. Hilaire. Born in West Palm Beach, USA, Lives and works in New York. Informed by her experience growing up in Caribbean and African American neighborhoods in South Florida, the artist seeks to memorialize the communities that she has been a part of through innovative printmaking techniques. Her work draws inspiration from Haitian Vodun flags, which are used to tell the country’s history and honor ancestral spirits. Using nontraditional materials such as beauty products, industrial metal, fabric or tires, she creates ornate tapestries that seek to preserve the Haitian history and Vodun religion that lives around us in Miami. Kathia St. Hilaire received her M.F.A. in Painting and Printmaking at the Yale School of Art in New Haven, Connecticut and her B.F.A. in Printmaking at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island. Her work has recently been featured in solo shows at the Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA; Perrotin, New York, NY; and the NSU Art Museum Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; as well as group exhibitions at the Speed Museum of Art, Louisville, KY; The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs; Half Gallery, New York; Blum & Poe, New York; and James Fuentes, New York. Photo credit: ©Photo Claire Dorn. Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin Perrotin https://www.perrotin.com/fr/artists/kathia_st_hilaire/954#news https://leaflet.perrotin.com/view/1216/the-vocals-of-the-chaotic-burst Beaux Arts https://www.beauxarts.com/expos/a-la-galerie-perrotin-la-jeune-kathia-st-hilaire-regarde-vers-lhistoire-haitienne/ Speed Art Museum https://www.speedmuseum.org/exhibitions/current-speed-kathia-st-hilaire-invisible-empires/ NYTimes https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/22/arts/american-museums-galleries-art-guide.html NSU Art Museum https://dailyartfair.com/exhibition/17305/kathia-st-hilaire-perrotin Culture Type https://www.culturetype.com/tag/kathia-st-hilaire/ Artfrofest https://artfrofest.com/visit/curators-eye-kathia-st-hilaire-vocals-chaotic-burst/?srsltid=AfmBOorzMbsps9gdivbbc0wWqO-1y3muLS93dRuf_UmpHii1rm_-vJ-0 Ocula https://ocula.com/art-galleries/perrotin/exhibitions/kathia-st-hilaire/ e-flux https://www.e-flux.com/announcements/611610/kathia-st-hilaireinvisible-empires Daily Art Fair https://dailyartfair.com/exhibition/17305/kathia-st-hilaire-perrotin France24 https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/arts24/20260113-artist-kathia-st-hilaire-s-deceptively-delicate-visions-of-chaos-and-resistance Sortiraparis https://www.sortiraparis.com/arts-culture/exposition/articles/340085-kathia-st-hilaire-une-exposition-engagee-a-la-galerie-perrotin Slash https://slash-paris.com/critiques/kathia-st-hilaire-galerie-perrotin Actuart https://www.actuart.org/2026/01/kathia-st.hilaire-the-vocals-of-the-chaotic-burst.html Amelie du Chalard https://www.amelieduchalard.com/ Franceinfo https://la1ere.franceinfo.fr/monde/outremer/expo-l-artiste-kathia-saint-hilaire-explore-les-blessures-d-haiti-pour-parler-du-monde-1669956.html Mudam https://www.mudam.com/collection/kathia-st-hilaire