Born in Panama, artist Giana De Dier is acutely aware of the history of how she came to be in a country thousands of kilometers from where her ancestors came from. This displacement of Africans is a topic she often explores in her collages. Centering the Afro-Caribbean people in her collages, she constructs a powerful image with archival pictures. These archival photographs, once a fetishized look at the black body, become a celebration of the life and culture of the people that came before her. 

Wangechi has depicted herself as a feministic artist because most of her work entails violence meted upon black women in society. Mutu tries to show how black women in society have been subjected to serial harassment by members of society. Mutu's work seems quite contradictory because she depicts a problematic society and at the same is hopeful that society will change how it treats women.

We had the opportunity to interview Afroscope, an NFT artist making rounds in the digital space. Check out what he has to say about art, his creative process, and what he has in store for the future.

Noah’s inspiration is drawn between the fusion of cultures and the creation of palaces of memory, through an 'appropriation of Manifesto of the Anthropophagus', published in 1928 by the Brazilian poet and polemicist Oswald de Andrade, a key figure in the cultural movement of Brazilian Modernist.

It’s a weapon that Parks was very comfortable using. And he used it often. Whether during a protest on police brutality or a documentary capturing the idyllic moments of African Americans’ lives in rural Alabama, Parks always used his photographs as a tool to tell different narratives that would fight against racial segregation and violence he saw — and experienced — around him.

Ringgold explored many mediums throughout her long career, like painting and printmaking. However, Ringgold would mostly be known for her textile works. Following a long legacy of fabric artists in her matriarchal line, Ringgold learned about the legacy of quilts and their importance in African-American history.

Born in 1892, Augusta Savage has always wanted to be an artist since she was young when she would carve animals out of clay in her backyard. Though women were encouraged to be performing artists (think singers and dancers) the thought of a woman being a visual artist was basically unheard of. It got to the point where her father would try to beat the art out of her. But it didn’t work. Her teacher spotted her talent and so began Savage’s career as a sculptor.

Born in 1886 in Lenox, Massachusetts, James Van Der Zee did not seek to be a photographer. With an early gift in music, Van Der Zee was an aspiring violinist. At the age of 14, he was gifted a camera, and the trajectory of his career shifted. As one of the few people in his city with a camera, Van Der Zee became a sought-after young man, documenting the rich lives of Black Americans in his town. 

As photography became more popular and less expensive over the last century, people from all walks of life began to pick up cameras to record their surroundings. Because of a history of racism and ignorance from larger, mainly white archival institutions such as museums and libraries, these records carry more weight than ever for many Black photographers who got to spend years or decades detailing the day-to-day lives of their communities.

The Harlem Renaissance was a great movement filled with the cross-pollination of ideas between different groups of African Americans. The name is derived from the large concentration of African Americans in Harlem, a neighborhood in New York City. In the years between World War I and The Great Depression, many African Americans migrated from the south to the more liberated north. Here, where they congregated in large numbers, a revival of African American culture began.

Harvey C. Jackson was another trailblazer that started the legacy of Black photographers in the United States. Though he was born in Cleveland, Jackson later moved to Detroit and possibly became the first African-American to set up a photo studio in the city. Jackson is most well-known for his documentation of the African-American community in Detroit. He was an active member of many groups, giving him an insight that outsiders could never have.

As the first professional female photographer in Ghana, Felicia Abban immortalizes the female gaze in the mid to late 20th century.

As one of the first families of Black photographers, the Goodridge Brothers gave more dignified and nuanced portraits of the Black Americans of the time.

Known as the first African American to become a professional painter, Joshua Johnson painted hundreds of portraits with a very distinct style and extra attention to clothing details.

Edmonia Lewis was the first sculptor of African American and Native American descent to achieve international recognition. Edmonia's Neoclassical works exploring religious and classical themes won contemporary praise and received renewed interest in the late 20th century.

Prince Demah was an American painter of African ancestry who was formerly enslaved and active in Boston in the late 1700s. Demah is "the only known enslaved artist working in colonial America whose paintings have survived." In 1773 William Duguid sat for Prince Demah, a painter of African descent, who was then owned by a merchant named Henry Barnes.

History is written through the eyes of those in power. This is especially true when considering the history of Africans in the context of the Western art world. When we think of artists from the 17th-18th century, or even people depicted in their artworks, we often conjure up images of white, affluent aristocrats. Even when a commoner was depicted, they would often be white, albeit in less extravagant clothes.

Every year, we celebrate Black History Month in February. Many people use this time to remind us of the history that Black people went through. For us, we want to take this time to look at how Black people have contributed to the art world and how they've changed art in ways some of us might not have considered before.

Decades ago, Woodson was told to stick to watercolors. Now she has her own solo exhibit at the same place she discovered her artistic talents as a young girl.

Many African creatives are very excited about the growth of NFTs. Some of the reasons are the very same reasons Afrofuturism is gaining traction within the Black creative community since the term was coined in 1993.

Àsìkò’s art is a self-exploration of his own identity, and he’s graciously allowed us to come along for a ride.

Through his mentor, artist and designer Kofi Obuobi learned that there were many African masks hidden in private collections, never to be seen again. To change that and keep the history alive, Obuobi started to recreate these masks as NFTs.

In Africa, art and spirituality have been intrinsically linked for thousands of years. Today, many contemporary African artists have tugged on their ancestral roots in order to create art embedded with spiritual significance, like artists Buhlebezwe Siwani and Sethembile Msezane.

Do you want to be one of 10,000 owners of a piece of Banksy?

Using a tapestry of cloth dipped in voodoo potions as his canvas, he tackles one of the biggest problems in Western art history: the objectification and fetishization of the Black body

Like every major change throughout history, NFTs have their ups and downs. What does this mean for the African art market?

One of the boons of NFT is its ability to level the competition, especially amongst African creatives.

If you're curious, that's about 17TB of data.

Currently, African and Black contributions to art sales are just 1% of the total global collective. Can the new NFT trend change that?

Last week, our art expert and curator, Jérémy Chausse, was invited to give a talk at the Russian Academy of Design (RAD). In this talk, Jérémy talks about contemporary art, his vision for the art market, and how collectors may use art objects in interior space.

After Quentin Tarantino ignored a cease-and-desist letter, Miramax filed a lawsuit against the writer/director and his Pulp Fiction NFT sales.

Held at the temporary Grand Palais Ephémère, Paris Photo 2021 shows us why photography is worth collecting.

South African art director and illustrator Rendani Nemakhavhani first created the persona PR$DNT HONEY during the 2019 South African national elections. Under this moniker, she continues to create works celebrating the lives of Black women.

As part of the United Nations’ Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development, the UN-Habitat and several other stakeholders created the DigitalArt4Climate initiative. According to their website, the initiative “uses blockchain technology to turn art into digital assets or NFTs, which can be collected and traded, thus opening up a socio-technological innovation space which helps to unlock extraordinary potential for resource mobilization and climate empowerment.”

For their sixth edition of the AKAA fair, the committee decided on the running theme of Against The Flow TIme to reflect on the difficult year we all had to go through. What results is the display of resilience from artists, especially African artists, when faced with the difficulties of the past year.

Known for experimenting with technology, artist Rachel Rossin decides to mint her DNA on the OpenSea platform. What does that mean for Rossin and, broadly, for the future of digital technology?

While London’s National Gallery is still struggling with its repatriation efforts for its collection of looted artifacts, it is not completely silent on reexamining its controversial past. This week, the National Gallery released the results of several years of research looking into the legacies of British Slave-ownership of the museum’s donors, collectors, and other figures associated with the museum.

Like many artists, David Shrobe look to his past and his home to inspire his creations. Unlike many artists, Shrobe physically incorporates parts of his history into his creations. With a family history that can be traced almost a century back, Shrobe has inherited some items rich with stories. In turn, he incorporates these historical items into a similarly charged artwork about identities and history. 

Tired of the lazy term, Africa Art, artist Dennis Osadebe coined the term Neo-Africa to reimagine a more positive, bright, and hopeful Africa. Through the use of digital methods and traditional Nigerian imagery, Osudabe marries the two into an insightful look at present-day Nigeria and the world at large.

NFT had many features that should have made the space more diverse, but it doesn't seem like that's what's happening.

For artist Tariku Shiferaw, the mark is a concept that he constantly grapples with. A mark is a way for humans to leave behind their presence. When used purposefully, it becomes a storytelling tool that’s utilized as early as the presence of the cave marks. When simplified, a mark becomes a line. It’s a feature that’s heavily repeated in Shiferaw’s works. It’s present in the painted lines he creates or the shipping crates he utilized.

In a historic move, Cambridge University and the University of Aberdeen become the first British institutions to return their Benin Bronzes. This move adds pressure for the British Museum to follow suit.

Would you buy an Andy Warhol sketch for $250? Would you buy it if you know the sketch is priced at $20,000? And would you buy it if there’s only a 0.1 percent chance that the piece you bought was a genuine Warhol?

Through the use of their respective medium, artists like Mohau Modisakeng and Mário Macilau reclaim the African narrative.

Known for using anamorphosis effects to drastically change historical monuments, artist JR's latest work is also his first foray into the NFT world.

After over a year of preparation and three years of negotiations with UNESCO, the ancient grounds of the Giza Plateau will be home to an unprecedented exhibition of its nature.

With his bright and bold strokes of color, Nkoth brings to life the humanity and the stark reality they have to go through.

By creating these NFTs, the House of Lobkowicz hope to preserve and enhance their vast collection.

These artists from all sorts of backgrounds smashed every expectation and sold their works at multiple times the high estimates.

With her sculptures, artist Murjoni Merriweather aims to highlight and celebrate the natural features of Black bodies.

Beltracchi’s new project, which he titled “The Greats”, consists of multiple versions of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi. In total, Beltracchi will be selling 4,608 NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain. The NFTs will be on sale 5 days from the publication of this article. In another humorous poke at ownership, Beltracchi said that the buyers will not know which version of his Salvator Mundi they will get.

In a tense exchange between several parties, the University of Hong Kong (HKU) has requested the removal of a statue that has been exhibited at the campus since 1997. The request came after the disbandment of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China.

Partially influenced by his medical background, artist Nate Lewis explores history using patterns, textures, and rhythm.

There is an avant-garde quality to Samuel’s photographs. True to his mission, Samuel utilizes whatever he could get his hands on to create his highly conceptual works.

By protecting their IP, artists are still getting paid every time their NFT is sold. To help show the best artists on their marketplace, Alpha Quirk curated a digital gallery of the best they have to offer.

Both in grandness, color, and composition, Ballon’s works evoke the same aura as Christian arts of yore. Mixed with the contemporariness of Ballon’s subjects, his work becomes a powerful message of the lives and plight of the modern Black people.

Skeptics have questioned the authenticity of "Samson and Delilah" for decades, but this test might prove to be the final nail in the coffin.

Is this artwork or just plain theft?

Palito’s work is bright, bold, and most importantly, it tells a story. Taking inspiration from Brazilian and African culture, his works imagine a utopia where humans can seamlessly co-exist with nature.

Among others, the NFT platform worked together with photographer Misan Harriman

For the return of the Benin Bronzes currently housed at the British Museum in London, a group of Nigerian artists is offering new artworks in its place.

After six decades, Christo and Jeanne-Claude's dream of wrapping the Arc de Triomphe was finally realized posthumously.

After eight decades the shield will finally return home, to the place where it has been decorating the Konopiště Castle for many years,” said Lubomír Zaorálek, Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic. 

As vibrant as his paintings can be on screen, it is the three-dimensional aspect of his paintings that truly makes them special.

Scott’s NFT features a looping video of a white man standing on an auction block at a Brooklyn sidewalk. Scott titled the work White Man For Sale and will be auctioned at Christie’s during a special sale on October 1. 

After its closing on September 9, 2021, the two lots were sold for a combined total of $26.2 million. The first lot, which contained 101 Bored Ape NFTs, raked in the equivalent of $24.4 million. The second lot, with 101 NFTs from the Bored Ape Kennel Club, was sold for a total of $1.8 million. 

Having spent years as a professional dancer, Djeneba Aduayom spent her life thinking about movement and the human body. After an injury caused her to rethink her life and career, she picked up a camera and began exploring the human body in another way.

The Bored Ape lot auctioned at Sotheby's was estimated to sell for $12 million to $18 million. With days left until its closing, the lot has already surpassed expectation with a current bid of $19 million.

An NFT collector by the name of Pranksy seemed to have some prophetic sense about his chosen online moniker. The Banksy NFT they purchased turned out to be... a prank.

From painting to sculpture, photography to performance, music to poetry, Baala will not hesitate to use whatever medium is available to him to satisfy his creative needs.

When Visa announced its purchase of a CryptoPunk avatar, the project soon exploded in popularity, with many collectors joining in to purchase the unique avatars.

Growing up in the village of Kwangcolosi in Kwa Zulu Natal to a spiritual healer mother, artist Wonder Buhle Mbambo’s works are greatly influenced by the spiritual side of his culture.

From studio portraits to street documentation, Addison Scurlock's photography tells the story of early 20th century Black Americans.

The collection features almost 300 objects which feature photography of abolitionists, women entrepreneurs of the Underground Railroad, and photographic jewelry.

Inspired by his diverse hometown, Michie's collages explore the intersection between different identities.

For the past few decades, a different generation of artists is using everchanging technology to create not just a new type of art, but a new type of artist. Unlike the very homogenous club of the traditional art world, the digital art world is incredibly diverse, with all sorts of people, of all shapes and sizes, from all corners of the world.

At the beginning of 2020, during the first lockdown, artist Simon Fujiwara was lost. Like many of us, he did not know what’s happening and what is going to happen. As he attempted to navigate this confusion, he created the character Who the Bær.

Like many photographers before them, Darryl DeAngelo Terrell has used the camera to create a different, and at times opposing, narrative from what the media depicts.

Meet the man behind the images that drove the Black Is Beautiful movement at its inception.

Brown tells his stories through the intimate portrayal of Black bodies and how they interact with and occupy the space around them.

With an ever-changing roster of artists, IT IS ALL AROUND US aims to show the infinite possibilities of this art form and the equalizing power NFT and digital art can have.

Boafo will paint the outer panels of a rocket that will launch in fall 2021.

Inspired by fashion and Black culture, Dawn Okoro creates compelling images of Black bodies.

The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, has announced that it will be selling several of its collections as NFTs to raise funds for the museum.

Artist Nina Chanel Abney’s abstract paintings capture the frenetic contemporary culture of today, combining her signature bold colors and abstractions with the representation of diverse subjects.

Some critics said NFT wouldn't last, but the market would like to differ.

Brittany Tucker's doodles both reverse the racist narrative and emphasize them.

With 273 participating galleries from 33 countries, Art Basel will feature both physical, in-person viewings as well as online viewing rooms

Each unique piece will be sold as NFTs. That is, unless the collector wishes to trade it for a physical piece.

Alekhuogie takes items and iconography that are often associated with Black culture and examines their existence and why we see them as they are. 

With nothing but her charcoal, she captures contemplative moments of the woman in her work

Whether it’s through playing with her materials or by performing in front of an audience, Gale breaks apart and dissects the political, social, and economic systems we’re all a part of.

Once an institution as big as Christie’s decided digital art was worth selling, digital art became a legitimate form of art. Many artists were excited about this new legitimacy. But many also were wary of it.

Like most innovations in history, there’s a pros and cons list that goes with it. Does the benefit outweigh the cost?

As a queer, biracial woman, Quarles reflects a sense of ambiguity in the flowing figures within her paintings

By framing the past, Ikon reflects on how that past shaped them and envisions a new future

The contextual backbone of her works lies in revealing the violence, both visible and invisible, in society

The exhibition "IT IS ALL AROUND US" is showcasing NFT artworks from a variety of artists all around the world. The world of NFT, and digital art in general, is a vast, unexplored land rife with possibilities. We had a chat with the curator of the show, Jérémy Chausse, about why he thinks NFT is the future and what we can look forward to in the exhibition.