Voices of the Diaspora: The Artisans Behind the Canvas

Unathi Mkonto (1982- ) is a South African artist working across drawing, installation and sculpture. Drawing is a foundational aspect of his practice. His drawings sometimes act as blueprints for his sculptures, referencing his background in architecture.  Mkonto's work is abstract and takes viewers through his life situating them spatially in everyone's experience.  He received his BA in Architecture from Nelson Mandela University. 

Vickie Pierre is a Haitian-American multimedia artist. Pierre's work explores self-identity, referencing feminine tropes and historical and contemporary cultural politics. In most of her works on paper, the anthropomorphic forms represent both females and males reposing in a dream state. Pulling from Haitian and Yoruba mythologies, the black forms reveal various decorative patterns, interspersed.  Pierre received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts in New York, New York in 1997. 

Wangechi Mutu (1972- ) is a Kenyan-American visual artist, known for her painting, sculpture, film, and performance work. Much of Mutu's work has explored the female body as subject through collage, installation, and performance. Mutu is She is interested in questions of gender, cultural trauma and transmission, and environmentalism. Her work also pulls from myths and cultural influences from the "Eastern" and "Western" pantheons creating a unique reference point. Strict dichotomies of East/West, beauty/grotesque, and sacred/profane are of little interest to her.  She is interested in that space in the middle where hybridity thrives.   Mutu received a BFA degree from Cooper Union in 1996 and an MFA in sculpture from Yale School of Art in 2000.

Wilfredo Lam (1902-1982) was a Cuban painter and printmaker of African and Chinese descent. He spent about 14 years in Spain starting in 1923 to 1938. He then moved to Paris before settling in New York. His art drew from personal experience during thee Spanish Civil War, both as a soldier and observer, and grief in his personal life. Lam was engaged in Modern movements such as Cubism and Surrealism. His work draws heavily from his experiences in Cuba with special attention to Afro-Caribbean religions such as Santería. He synthesized these two world views resulting in a visual language rich with thin figures, distinct, vertical linework, and a vibrant palette. 

William H. Johnson (1910-1970) was an American painter. He worked through many styles throughout his life including academic, Impressionism, Cubism, Fauvism, German Expressionism, to "conscious naiveté” or a folk style. In 1926 he traveled to France and this is credited as some of his earliest exposure to modernist forms. He traveled around Europe and returned to New York in 1938 at the onset of World War II. On returning to the United States he d Johnson studied at the National Academy of Design in New York. 

Wilson Bigaud (1931-2010) was a Haitian painter. Many of his works depict daily life in Haiti. His early style emphasized perspective and volume and an awareness of the effects of light and shadow. He was a friend and contemporary of Hector Hyppolite. 

Winsom Winsom (1946- ) is a Maroon-Canadian multidisciplinary artist working across textiles, painting, video, and installation. Her work focuses on African spirituality, freedom, and resilience. The religions of Ifa and Ashanti deeply inspire her. Winsom co-founded the Kingston's Black Women's Collective.  Winsom studied at the Jamaica School of Art between 1965 and 1968.

Zana Masombuka (1995- ) is a South African conceptual artist. She works across photography, film, sculpture, and performance. Her work is focused on the intersection of tradition and the modern world in African cultures. She believes humans are spiritual beings, in addition to our physical selves. She is an advocate for Africans interpreting and re-interpreting their histories on their own terms, positioning themselves as global leaders.  Masombuka received her BA from Stellenbosch University in 2017. 

Zanele Muholi FRPS (1972- ) is a South African artist and visual activist working in photography, video, and installation.  Muholi's work focuses on race, gender, and sexuality within a South African context and is a direct response to the dangerous conditions that LGBTQ+ people face in rural townships. For Muholi, this expands queer history and narratives in South Africa. Another ongoing series is, Somnyama Ngonyama (Hail the Dark Lioness), where they take self-portraits which act as a retelling of South Africa's history. Muholi completed an Advanced Photography course at the Market Photo Workshop in Newtown, Johannesburg in 2003. They received a Master of Fine Arts degree in Documentary Media from Ryerson University, Toronto in 2009.