8 Black Artists Who Just Shook the Art World: Part 3

• 0:00Black artists that shook the art world, Part 3
• 1:34How I picked the eight
• 2:43Njideka Akunyili Crosby
• 6:20Tschabalala Self
• 10:18Ibrahim Mahama
• 14:31Nnena Kalu
• 16:57Eight artists, eight cities
• 17:56Julie Mehretu
• 20:47Thomas J. Price
• 23:40Henry Taylor
• 25:37Lubaina Himid
• 27:27What to watch for next
• 29:15Who belongs in Part 4?

In the last eighteen months, some of the biggest stages in the art world went to Black artists: the first official portrait of Barack and Michelle Obama together, the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, the Turner Prize, Art Basel's top award and Britain's pavilion in Venice. Here are eight artists and eight moments, with the place to go see each work in person.

How I picked the eight artists

Each artist had a moment between spring 2025 and now that the whole art world had to look at: a first, a monument, or a top prize. Every source is listed in the video description on YouTube. The question I ask every week is how somebody becomes successful in the art world, and here it gets eight answers.

Njideka Akunyili Crosby: the art of the official portrait

Days before the Obama Presidential Center opened on Juneteenth, the first official portrait of Barack and Michelle Obama together was revealed, and she painted it. It is called The Obamas: Springing Forth, nine feet by ten, and through the window you can see Michelle Obama's childhood home on Euclid Avenue, in South Shore. Njideka brought her whole practice, the collage and the layers of a life, into the most official frame in American life.

The occasion expanded to fit her.

Where to see it: the Hope and Change Lobby at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. No ticket required.

Tschabalala Self: art on the Fourth Plinth

On September 10, Lady in Blue was unveiled in Trafalgar Square: a painted bronze woman in a bright blue dress, about sixteen feet tall, walking across a plinth built in 1841. Tschabalala builds Black women's bodies out of fabric and paint at larger than life scale, and now one of them takes up space in front of the National Gallery.

Where to see it: Trafalgar Square, through 2028.

Ibrahim Mahama: art built from what an economy leaves behind

On December 4, 2025, in Miami Beach, Ibrahim shared the first Art Basel Awards Gold for an established artist with Nairy Baghramian. A year later he has two shows going in two countries. He works in the leftover material of an economy, and he builds studios, schools and residencies in Tamale so the next artist does not have to leave home to be seen.

A career is stages. A legacy is what stays standing after you leave the stage.

Where to see it: The Harvest Season at Fondation Cartier in Paris, to February 28, 2027. Voyageur in Piazza Municipio in Naples, to November 18.

Nnena Kalu: art made at her own rhythm

On December 9, 2025, Nnena won the Turner Prize, and the press reported her as the first artist with a learning disability to win it. She makes hanging sculptures, wrapped and bound, and drawings built from circling, layered lines, and has worked since 1999 out of ActionSpace in London.

Working so long and so true that the house has to get bigger.

Where to see it: nothing is confirmed on view right now. Follow ActionSpace and her gallery, Arcadia Missa.

Julie Mehretu: 83 feet of art on the street

On the north face of the Obama Presidential Center there is a painted glass window eighty-three feet tall and twenty-five feet wide, called Uprising of the Sun. It is her first work in glass, thirty-five panels, inspired by President Obama's remarks on the fiftieth anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery marches. The whole neighborhood gets to live with it.

Where to see it: the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, from the street.

Thomas J. Price: art that holds still

From April 29 to June 17, 2025, a twelve-foot bronze of an everyday Black woman, Grounded in the Stars, stood in Times Square, and the reaction was loud. This year A Place Beyond, his tallest work to date, went up outside V&A East in London. Thomas makes monuments to people who rarely get monuments.

Where to see it: A Place Beyond at V&A East in London. The Times Square piece has come down.

Henry Taylor: art the museum grew into

From April 8 to September 6 this year, the Musée national Picasso in Paris gave Henry his first retrospective in France, Where Thoughts Provoke: about a hundred works across thirteen galleries.

Where to see it: that show has closed. Follow his gallery, Hauser & Wirth, for what is next.

Lubaina Himid: art that asks who belongs

Lubaina represents Great Britain at the Venice Biennale this year with Predicting History: Testing Translation: five multi-panel paintings of working figures and a soundscape made with Magda Stawarska. In 2017 she became the first Black woman to win the Turner Prize.

Where to see it: the British Pavilion in the Giardini, Venice, open through November 22.

Three dates to watch in the art world

November 22: Venice names its Visitors' Lions by public vote. December: the Art Basel Awards name their Gold winners in Miami Beach, and Julie Mehretu is a medalist. December 10: the 2026 Turner Prize winner is named.

What eight artists did with the stage

Njideka put a childhood home in a presidential portrait. Tschabalala put an everyday woman on a plinth. Ibrahim fills Paris and Naples at once. Nnena changed who a prize is for. Julie made eighty-three feet of glass. Thomas made monuments to everyday people. Henry took over the museum built around Picasso. Lubaina gave Britain's pavilion to working people making a home.

Who belongs in Part 4? Tell me in the comments on the video. I read every one.

You can't have the glory without the story. Stay committed to the story, and the glory will come.