Black Women Artists

Black Women Artists

Pioneers & Masters

• Faith Ringgold – United States – Painter & textile/story quilts addressing race, gender & civil rights Pitchfork+15MoMAA+15Black Enterprise+15
• Alma Thomas – United States – Abstract painter, Color Field pioneer inspired by nature and celestial forms MoMAA
• Betye Saar – United States – Assemblage & mixed media, politically charged and feminist narratives MoMAA+1Wikipedia+1

Contemporary Icons

• Julie Mehretu – Ethiopia / USA – Monumental abstract painting exploring migration, globalization, identity Magazine Artsper+4MoMAA+4ADAMA+4
• Wangechi Mutu – Kenya / USA – Collage, sculpture & installation; hybrid forms exploring gender and colonialism Bon Femmes+3MoMAA+3ADAMA+3
• Njideka Akunyili Crosby – Nigeria / USA – Figurative collage + painting blending Nigerian and American imagery WideWalls+5MoMAA+5ADAMA+5
• Kara Walker – United States – Cut-paper silhouettes, installations dissecting race, power & history The Times+15MoMAA+15MoMAA+15

Emerging & Rising Voices

• Toyin Ojih Odutola – Nigeria / USA – Pen, pastel & ink drawings investigating identity & narrative through layered mark-making Bon Femmes+6MoMAA+6ADAMA+6
• Amy Sherald – United States – Grayscale portrait painter of African American subjects challenging racial norms MoMAA+1Wikipedia+1
• Lynette Yiadom-Boakye – United Kingdom / Ghana – Fictional portrait painter exploring character, memory & representation The Guardian+4MoMAA+4AFROPUNK+4
• Mickalene Thomas – United States – Mixed media paintings & installations celebrating Black femininity and beauty with rhinestones & pattern Wikipedia+5Black Enterprise+5MoMAA+5
• Simone Leigh – United States – Sculptor and installation artist centering Black womanhood, craft, ceramics & architecture Wikipedia+2MoMAA+2Black Enterprise+2

Multimedia & Conceptual Artists

• Sondra Perry – United States – New media & digital video interrogating tech, race & identity Cultured Mag+4MoMAA+4Vanity Fair+4
• Carrie Mae Weems – United States – Photography and text-based storytelling creating Black domestic narratives ew.com+7MoMAA+7AFROPUNK+7
• Bisa Butler – United States – Textile portraiture & quilting made with vibrant Ghanaian-inspired fabrics Cultured Mag+1reddit.com+1
• Alison Saar – United States – Mixed media sculpture & installation, transforming found objects to explore cultural identity & spirituality Wikipedia
• Aisha Tandiwe Bell – United States – Multimedia artist using sculpture, video & sound to explore fragmented identity & diaspora experience Wikipedia

African Contemporaries

• Zanele Muholi – South Africa – Visual activist & photographer documenting LGBTQ+ lives and challenging stereotypes MoMAA+2MoMAA+2Feminist+2
• Mary Sibande – South Africa – Installation & photography creating sculptural narratives on post-apartheid identity MoMAA+1reddit.com+1
• Esther Mahlangu – South Africa – Painter known for contemporary renditions of traditional Ndebele mural art The Guardian
• Deborah Roberts – United States – Mixed media collage blending painting & found imagery to interrogate beauty standards & race Bon Femmes

Summary Overview

Printing shop in Kendall, FL