WHERE
THRIVE
Black Art Forms is the platform that showcases and promotes the talent of young Black artists.
Take a look around. The artwork you’ll find here is dazzlingly varied, reflecting a broad spectrum of artistic styles and cultural influences.
We’re always looking for new artists. Please submit your work if you’d like to be among the 35 artists whose work we’ll be showcasing and will be featured as part of the DECODED graphic novel.
Damel Carayol
“As a painter I’ve been journeying through oils to enable a soulful giving – with a beauty of imagery and depth of perception. I’m perennially seeking to deliver a better overstanding of who we are as a oneness, encapsulated in historical account and religious doctrine – to extract our contributions, and exaltations, essentially from an Afrocentric perspective.”
Pauline Boyenga Bofala
Pauline Boyenga Bofala (Browncoffeemoka) is a sensitive, conscientious and mystical artist who is passionate about art history, history, ethnology, culture and spirituality. She is inspired by different forms of art (like photography, sculpture, literature, fine art, craftsmanship) with care for the environment being absolutely central to her work.
Elicia Mckenzie
Elicia is an expressionist artist who mainly specialises in water-mixable oils and charcoal to create either a representational or abstract art piece for an individual client, organisation or event.
GUS BROOKS-SIMPSON
Ibim Cookey
Ibim Cookey is a photo-realistic pencil artist who comes from the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. He is a graduate of architecture and an award-winning artist and Art Ambassador to the Rivers State Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
ISIS RAHEEM
Isis is an Afrofuturist whose work explores core African history and near-future speculation. She is a multi-disciplinary artist whose wide-ranging practice is unified by her unflinching style of enquiry. At times her work is provocative, but she holds that provocation is sometimes an unavoidable part of negotiating language and meaning.
Sovina Vernon-White
Sovina Vernon-White’s work explores the representation of Black people in real spaces and in the prism of socialised perspectives. She shares that when growing up she was never exposed to the fact that Black people made art and, by some twisted irony, the artists that greatly influenced her were artists who were themselves influenced by African art such and Benin and Fang.
Lola Betiku-Labet
Lola Betiku – better known by the moniker ‘labet’ – is a self-taught Nigerian-British painter based in East London. Her work serves as a figurative and abstract diary that explores themes of identity and representation. Drawing influence from her Nigerian heritage, her work converses with the ideas of belonging and femininity, which she uses to reflect on how these evolve within cultural and traditional expectations.
Jonathan Akwue
Jonathan Akwue is a seasoned creative professional with over 25 years of multidisciplinary experience in the creative industries, including illustration, design, advertising, and marketing. Throughout his career, he has earned numerous awards and built a reputation as an advocate for creativity, diversity, and innovation. He is the co-founder of the Black Art Forms platform.
ABOUT
FORMS
Black Art Forms aims to be a living showcase of Black creativity that will increase the visibility of Black artists.
This website was created in close collaboration with Disrupt Space, a Black artists’ collective based in the UK, and the artists whose work appears here are all represented commercially by Disrupt Space.
Partners
Publicis EMBRACE UK has spearheaded the project throughout its development, with launch support from Publicis agencies MSL & Publicis Media, and Black Art Forms digital platform build by Publicis Sapient.
Disrupt Space has supported the project by supplying a number of emerging Black contemporary artists whose work is featured on Black Art Forms and in DECODED.
Agents for Change is a strategic partner working with Black Art Forms to provide opportunities for Black Artists and others from traditionally marginalised groups.
Fanbytes has supported DECODED & Black Art Forms by running an Influencer campaign to promote the launch of both projects across social media channels
Kugali Media has acted as an editorial consultant on the publication of the DECODED graphic novel.
BBC’s Creative Diversity Partner is one of the judges for the project. BBC will promote the initiative across its internal network.
Black Google Network supports the Black Art Forms initiative
Black Art Forms is supported by Meta
Submit your work
Our goal is to make Black Art Forms a living showcase of Black creativity that will increase the visibility of Black artists.
To do that – and to be featured as part of the DECODED graphic novel – we want to find and promote the work of 35 Black artists.
If you’re an artist and would like your work to be featured on Black Art Forms, please complete and submit the form.
Any questions? Send them our way.