Ayanfe Olarinde (b. 1996) is a self-taught mixed-media artist based in Lagos, Nigeria. She graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Microbiology from the University of Lagos in 2018. Her artistic practice takes an initial root in her love for scribbling, a process through which she is able to unpack her emotions in a playful and intriguing way, while addressing broader questions that explore themes of self-image, identity-formation, social reality, collective history and mental health.

Olarinde finds harmony in irregular lines, which have become for her a set of skills forged in the heat of frustration, on the path to self-discovery.

Olarinde’s work has been featured in multiple exhibitions across continents, including museum exhibitions. In 2022, the acclaimed now Grammy-nominated artist Asake sought her talents, commissioning a series of paintings for the cover art of his sophomore music album, “Work of Art”.

Auudi Dorsey (b.1992) work comes from within and comes from perspective. Figures seen in the artist work is inspired by the day-to-day people and circumstances that exist in southern culture.“Painting these people allows them to be part of something greater than their situation and reality but also this is a buy product of how New Orleans has influenced my practice” said Auudi. The ideal of adding value to what may seem valueless aesthetically to the human eye or stories of how Black Americans in the south still hold on to most of their ancestral culture. Figures in his work can be seen engaging in their environment whether it’s from celebrations, traditions, or social conditions. White tees, cars and cigarettes are variables that can be seen often in his works. The communicationWithin the artist works channels the past present and the now of Black folks in the South.

Bahati Simoens is an independent female artist of Belgian and Congolese descent, born in Munanira, Burundi in 1992. Currently based in Johannesburg, South Africa, Bahati creates vibrant figurative paintings heavily inspired by her African heritage.

Bahati draws from her everyday experiences and observations, incorporating softness and a warm demeanor in her works. Through her paintings, she aims to represent and elevate black culture, celebrating it in all its richness and diversity. Her unique style, characterized by bold and dynamic brushstrokes, evokes a sense of movement and emotion, inviting the viewer to engage with the work on a visceral level.

Bahati's work has been exhibited in galleries and museums in South Africa, Europe, and the United States.

Cktrl, is a British multi-instrumentalist and producer. Cktrl stands for "cant keep to reality". Born to Montserratian and Jamaican parents, Cktrl was brought up in South London with music having been a part of his life since he can remember. As a child he learned to play the clarinet and saxophone through a free music service funded by the local council. Cktrl is an active reinventing genre. As a trained musician who started out making club records, he is representative of classical music while making it feel culturally relevant in a way that has never been done before. Cktrl has been featured on the cover of British Vogue, Dazed, Crack Magazine, Hero, Harpers Bazaar, and ES Magazine. Cktrl obtains a global network of creatives that include the late Virgil Abloh, Bianca Saunders, Tremaine Emory, Ib Kamara, Campbell Addy and Jenn Nkiru who secured him a cameo in Beyoncé’s “Black Is King”. Recent collaborations include Zegna, Off-White, Paul Smith, and Tommy Hilfiger to name a few.

KILO KISH is an interdisciplinary artist and performer working in music, film, installation, performance, and written word. Her most extensive project is Kilo Kish, a solo music project exploring personal identity and cultural expectations. Musically, she has collaborated with Gorillaz, The Internet, Vince Staples, and Childish Gambino, amongst others, garnering attention since her debut in 2011. Kish works in a project based format, diving into a wide range of genres and mediums to dissect her unsettled view of millennial life. Over the years, her creative practice has expanded to physical performances and directing films. Her music has been featured in Vogue, W Magazine, The New York Times, Pitchfork, Dazed, The Guardian, Billboard, and Fader.

Terence Maluleke is a South African artist that resides in Johannesburg. He is a visual developer who has worked with Walt Disney, Sony Pictures, Netflix, and Triggerfish. Terence is one of the founders of Kasi Sketchbook - a project that aims to create drawing clubs in the townships. Within the Fine Art terrain, Ntsako oeuvre centers on the figurative as his primary inspiration through the celebration of his community.

Terence distinct stylistic approach subtly lingers between illustration, fine art and his color vibrancy. He also has a distinct way of using lines and geometric shapes create a visual bridge between his work as a Visual Development Artist.

Marcus Leslie Singleton is a Seattle born artist celebrated for his distinctive figurative paintings that deftly intertwine personal observations with broader societal themes. A devoted observer, Singleton is always armed with a notebook, capturing anything of interest, be it people, phrases, or random thoughts. Using the sketches as source material for his paintings, his process demands a delicate balance of interpretation and recollection. Through natural, carefree, and playful brush strokes, his work offers meditations on broader issues of race, representation and the historical significance of everyday moments; “I’m interested in creating new paths that aim to contextualize aesthetic beliefs and inspire people to unlearn and humanize us presently and, in the future,” Singleton explains.

Kitty Ca$h is a DJ,  producer, and multimedia artist from Brooklyn, New York. Over the past few years, she has made a name for herself as one of the most prolific cultural curators.

Kitty Ca$h has DJ'd for artists including Rihanna, Solange, A$AP Rocky, Migos, Swiss Beats, Kehinde Wiley and Marina Abramovic. She has also played for cultural institutions such as Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art and Moma PS1. Her diverse brand client roster includes Dior, Chanel, Prada, Nike, Adidas, Apple, Target, Soundcloud and MTV to name a few.

Through her unique taste and knack for uncovering new music and fashion trends, Kitty Cash has become one of the industry's most in-demand DJs. While maintaining an underground cultural authenticity, she continues to create innovative music and creative projects. She released her first single "Just Fine" feat. Kiana Lede September 2021. Followed by "Can't Shut Us Down"  in 2023 feat. Paw Paw Rodney and "Time Machine" feat. Thundercat and James Fauntleroy February 20204. Her debut EP, "Handle With Care"  is slated to release Spring 2024.

Gbemileke Adekunle is an artist based in Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria. Gbemileke’s studio practice revolves on ranging issues from solitude to the complexity of heritage.

“Connecting with people’s emotions and minds as a visual artist is dutiful, invoking the elements through engaging and provocative representations is fundamental to human existence and development.” Gbemileke works is described as expressionist paintings with fewer recent works leaning towards abstract expressionism. His primary medium is acrylic with juxtaposition of oil pastel and charcoal to strike textural harmonies. “My art is incomplete without the use of oil pastel and charcoal, that gives nostalgic bring-back of my childhood where I used burnt wood and crayons for my drawings.

Born in Hyogo, Japan, and now based in New York, Mayumi Nakao moved to New York City in 2013 to study painting and the English language after graduating from Sozaosha Design School for Illustrators in Osaka, Japan.

Lately, her focus has been on improving her skills in painting while absorbing various styles in order to arrive at a more sophisticated take on representational art. For her, representation has generated a methodology of sourcing and technique that has evolved into a very personal vision almost as if it’s her own genre.

Inside the work, she uses different cultures, races and generations as a way to tap into our common memory, making images that are strongly present and yet also a doorway to our shared past. This feeling, for her, has a sort of sentimental value that makes the heart warm.

Born and raised in Delta State, Nigeria, Ojisua is is an artist best known for his figurative abstract paintings using both exaggerated and sombre applications of colors.

A painter with formal training from Auchi Polytechnic (2018), Midegbeyan believes that simplicity is key and as the work speaks for itself.

Victor Olaoye was born in Ogun state Nigeria. He uses local dye and acrylics on canvas to create his enticing figures in honor of black figures and African culture into a place of pictorial tradition of portraits and figurative compositions. He is inspired by the revival of Adire textile emblematic of his Yoruba culture to explore the relationships between ethnic identities and culture in context of a globalized world.

Victor studied at the Obafemi Awolowo University (Ace, Ondo). He was awarded Overall winner of Life in my City art festival (Limcaf 2019), Rele young contemporary 2020, 1-54 art fair Christie’s Paris (April 2022), Loux de Textile Galerie Chauvy Paris (April 2022).

Cédric Kouassi Tchinan is an artist based in the Ivory Coast whose paintings have been exhibited internationally. His vivid optical art-inspired works speak of the spirit and of reflection. In addition, Tchinan explores themes relating to "odyssey", which represents our life journeys. He believes that although the path is difficult, it can also be viewed as a game that we can learn valuable lessons from. Tchinan has always been fascinated by the world in motion and human interactions. He translates in his work his perception of this movement, of these connections between individuals and his relationship with them.

The Artist's lines is this fragile link that connects us all together.Thus, he uses a rather expressive and simple writing, close to scribbling; the optical effect emphasizes his sensitivity and the aesthetics of his work.

Franck Kouassi Ezan is an artist based in the Ivory Coast whose paintings have been exhibit internationally. Employing his personal history as a starting point, his works also endeavor to answer existential questions pertaining to human complexity and individual identity, as represented through fingerprints. Inspired by both pop art and optical art movements, Ezan favors hot glue and acrylics in the creation of his striking compositions.

DIOUF (Senegal, born in 1991). As a young shepherd, he began painting using whatever came to hand. Stone, wood or charcoal are used to make sketches on the baobabs and the walls of Thiadiaye, the village where he grew up. He developed this passion despite his father's opposition. In this obstinacy of painting, the young painter grew.

Christopher Samuel Idowu (b.1995) is a visual artist from the coastal town of Badagry, Nigeria. He currently resides in Lagos State, where he works as a studio artist. He studied at the Yaba College of Technology where he majored in painting. He uses different media such as, conte crayon, charcoal, watercolor, acrylics, oils and even printmaking techniques.

Being raised on a mission accounts for the inclusion of spiritual iconography and imagery in Idowu’s paintings. The colors, residual architecture and selected sitters in his compositions reference the past and present landscapes of Badagry. His works explore time, history, personal experiences, memory, human connection and spirituality through portraiture, frequently paying respects to sites of places with cultural and historical significance.

David Olatoye is a Nigerian-based contemporary artist that creates hyper-stylized portraits and ultra-modern edge in his chosen media of acrylic and pen.

A visual creative with a penchant for the written word, Olatoye’s star has risen sharply since he launched his career in Lagos in 2015, after finishing his Bachelor of Fine Art degree at the highly regarded Obafemi Awolowo University in Ife, Nigeria. A highly collectable contemporary artist, Olatoye’s work explores the concepts of reconstructed and idealised domestic scenes through a critical lens that examines his own somewhat fractured childhood memories and the expectations of life in a traditional Nigerian home and society.

Ngwazi is a self-taught South-African artist renowned for his nonfigurative paintings. His practice reflects his desire to break free from the constraints of traditional representational art and explores the limitless possibilities of abstraction. Ngwazi’s work is characterized by bold, vibrant colors and fluid lines that create a sense of movement and energy. His sweeping brushstrokes and the use of non-representational shapes are layered to create complex, multi-dimensional compositions. A master of texture, his variety of techniques and paints results in rich and tactile surfaces.

One of South-Africa’s foremost emerging artists, Sibusiso Ngwazi has already gained strong recognition for his talent, showcasing his work in galleries and exhibitions across South Africa. After moving to Cape Town in 2013, he has participated in several group exhibitions. In 2017, Ngwazi held his first solo exhibition which was well-received by both critics and art enthusiasts.

Lucas Cristino is a Brazilian artist working in New York City.

Cristino’s work is informed by an accumulation of experience in the absurdities of memory and the juxtaposition of pain and joy. His vibrant large-scale paintings serve as metaphysical meditations on time and place where memory and dream intermingle in a space that is sensually seductive and yet often oddly unsettling.

His paintings often employ playful nods to Tropicalia, Magical Realism and Surrealism—a compositional sensibility that is inspired by a voracious exploration of Old Masters and Modern geniuses. He has a seemingly alchemical ability to make the commonplace peculiar and the miraculous ordinary.

Matilda Forsberg is a Swedish painter who is based in Newark, NJ. Her practice reflects on family and migration, and engages with ideas surrounding memory and recollection. Through an intuitive process of searching and discovering, her paintings intertwine dreamscapes and stories from the past with current experiences. Her work has been exhibited across the country in New York, Los Angeles, and Portland (OR) at venues including the New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, NJ; First Street Gallery, New York, NY; Deanna Evans Projects, Brooklyn, NY; and Ethan Cohen KuBe, Beacon, NY. In 2020, her work was presented in Mother Tongue as part of The Immigrant Artist Biennial. She is the awardee of the 2021 Liquitex Residency and the recipient of the 2021 City of Newark and Newark Arts Creative Catalyst Fund Fellowship, and the 2020 Newark Art Accelerator grant by Project for Empty Space and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. She received her BFA in Painting from Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon.

b. 1986) Sissòn is a non-binary, self-taught American artist. Their work reveals and questions the experience and social constructs of race, identity, and power. Born in Los Angeles and raised in Glendale, Arizona, Sissòn began their creative curriculum at age seven under the tutelage of their mother, Kimberlin. When she passed away in 2006, Sissòn abandoned their practice for almost a decade. They returned in 2015, creating work that would form the basis of their first solo show, Ivory, Gold, Slaves. Sissòn continues to eschew the gallery system, showing independently in New York and Los Angeles where they live and work.

For the past 10 years Malcolm-Emilio has consistently created work that inspires new perspectives on how to communicate and navigate in diverse cultural landscapes.

Using references from personal travel studies to create a language that can speak to the world, mainly using paint, sculpture, and interactive installations, to create spaces that allow access to lucid time travel.

The intention of the work is to provide a sensory activation of the mind, body & soul that regenerates genetic memory and replenishes our visions of origin!

Using various mediums to intuitively express the many different ways that humanity can coexist and collectively move forward in ways that are more conducive to the survival of the planet.

Marie Jeanne Akobe, better known by her artistic alias "Akobs," is an Ivorian self-taught photographer whose journey into the world of visual storytelling has captivated audiences for the past five years.

For Marie Jeanne, photography transcends mere imagery—it is her path, her mission. With an unwavering commitment to her craft, she has mastered the art of capturing the essence of her subjects, whether it be products, food and drink, still life compositions, or the intricacies of interior spaces. Yet, her artistic spirit knows no bounds, as she fearlessly explores diverse photographic genres, driven by an insatiable curiosity and an unyielding thirst for knowledge.

Through her lens, she invites us to see the world anew, to appreciate the beauty that surrounds us, and to embrace the endless possibilities that await those who dare to chase their dreams.