Hwami (b. 1993) is a UK based artist who was born in Zimbabwe and later forced to move to South Africa at the age of nine. Known for her work in portraiture, her paintings, which often feature herself and her family, provide a glimpse into her memories and experiences both growing up and eventually returning to Zimbabwe. Through her multimedia processes, Hwami interacts with themes of sexuality, gender, and spirituality. In fact, many of the subjects in her work are inspired by pictures found in her family’s old photo album from the 1970’s. However, when asked about how her own identity plays into her work, Hwami has responded, “How I identify isn’t what pushes me to create. I create because I cannot do anything else.”

Hendricks (1945-2017) is a American painter and photographer best known for his post-modern portraits of Black men and women. His career began in the 1960s when he noticed a lack of Black presence in European paintings. From then on, he developed a memorable collection of portraiture depicting Black bodies in empowered and classical positions. Through the years, he captured the unique styles and personalities of his neighbors and friends through these realist, urban portraits. Regarding his paintings as activism, he has responded, “Let’s move beyond that whole area of ‘political’ that seems to be a part of people’s thinking, rather than introducing them to the methods and style and focus of my work that doesn’t rely on that area of political-ness.”

Simpson (b. 1960) first began her career in New York as a documentary photographer and filmmaker. By the time she graduated with an MFA from the University of California, San Diego in 1985, she was challenging both photographic and social norms. Much of her work explores the ways in which gender and culture shape our lived experiences in contemporary America. When asked about the representation of the Black experience, Simpson responded, “My question is, why does working with a Black figure necessarily mean that the work loses a universal quality? Not to perceive its universality seems to me to be a shortcoming of the audience rather than of mine.”

Deborah Roberts (b. 1962) is a mixed media artist based out of Austin, Texas whose work has been exhibited throughout the United States and Europe. Her work explores the idea of otherness, especially as it relates to ideals of race and beauty. Through drawings, paintings, and found media, she seeks to reimagine societal interpretations of beauty and make space for women and children of color to be included in this definition. In addressing her viewers, Roberts said, “When you look at my work, you have to look at every part of the face and make something out of those fragments. That’s one of the gifts of the work—to see people differently, and not just as one being. Blackness is global.”

Marshall (b.1955) was born in Birmingham, Alabama and was raised predominantly in South Central Los Angeles. Witness to the political and social unrest of the Black Panther and Black Student Union activism in Los Angeles, the Civil Rights movement had a lasting impact on his work. Choosing to root his art in larger societal critiques, Marshall uses the frameworks of classical techniques to place Black figures at the center of his narratives. Inspired by Ralph Elison’s “Invisible Man”, Marshall’s work comments on the invisibility of Black people not only within art history but within “a culture that doesn't particularly care to see” them. Marshall works to "offset the impression that beauty is synonymous with whiteness" through using culturally relevant themes to tell the story of the African American middle class in the 60s, 70s and beyond.