Malik Roberts

“It’s an image of a guy who just finished getting his hair curled, feeling good about himself. I wanted the subject to have the posture of one of those old presidential portraits, like George Washington or something like that. I believe the conversation about Black hair and what is deemed acceptable is important.” – Malik Roberts

Read our exclusive interview at News.1xRUN.com!

Malik Roberts (b. 1990, Brooklyn, NY) is a Brooklyn based painter and multimedia artist creating deconstructed portraits with controversial contemporary subjects, which explore the relationship between visual culture and reality today. In the tradition of artists like Magritte and Richard Prince, Roberts often works with images and conventions recognizable from the media, reframing his appropriated source material to reveal the absurdity of every day life. While his visual language combines influences of modern and pop art, the artist’s sophisticated compositions provoke engagement rather than astonishment, inviting the viewer to consider the impact of visual media on the consumption of ideas in the Digital Age.