WRITING

It’s Time to Rethink the 50-50 Split with Art Galleries (HYPERALLERGIC)

This essay critiques the long-standing tradition of galleries taking a 50% commission on sales, a model rooted in outdated power dynamics. It considers the historical context that created this standard, the exploitative practices it perpetuates, and offers ideas for how artists might reimagine a more equitable future for themselves within the market.

Rashaad Newsome’s “Assembly” Is a Futurist Manifesto of Black Joy (HYPERALLERGIC)

A review of Newsome’s visionary project that blends film, performance, and AI technology to create a dazzling, world-building work. The piece highlights how Assembly becomes both manifesto and celebration—centering Black queer joy, resilience, and the transformative possibilities of collective imagination.

Juneteenth Is the Story of a Freedom Withheld (HYPERALLERGIC)

This reflection examines the complicated legacy of Juneteenth as a holiday rooted in delay, withheld freedom, and state-sanctioned erasure. It unpacks how the celebration has been reframed over time and considers what it means to honor emancipation while acknowledging its incompleteness.

We’re Not Your Pride Publicity Stunt (HYPERALLERGIC)

A sharp critique of the art world and corporate reliance on surface-level inclusion during Pride Month. The essay questions performative allyship, challenging institutions to move beyond symbolic gestures and instead invest in genuine, structural support for queer and trans communities.

Let It Burn: Nottoway Plantation (HYPERALLERGIC)

This op-ed responds to the fire that destroyed Nottoway, one of the largest slave plantations in the United States, reframing the event as both symbolic and necessary. It argues that destruction can be an act of memory, reclaiming histories of resistance against institutions built on exploitation.

Manufacturing Black Fatigue in the Art World (HYPERALLERGIC)

An analysis of how cultural institutions and the art market commodify Black identity while draining artists through cycles of visibility and exploitation. The essay names and critiques this pattern as a form of “manufactured fatigue,” calling for deeper, structural change instead of tokenistic representation.

Who’s Afraid of Successful Black Artists? (HYPERALLERGIC)

This piece interrogates the art world’s persistent unease with the financial and critical success of Black artists. It asks why visibility and achievement so often trigger skepticism or backlash, and what this says about broader systems of race, power, and cultural value.

Returning the Gaze of Ancient Egyptian Funerary Portraits (HYPERALLERGIC)

An essay exploring the uncanny intimacy of ancient Egyptian funerary portraits, which confront modern viewers with their startling realism. The piece reflects on what it means to meet these painted gazes across time and how they unsettle assumptions about life, death, and representation.

Ron Norsworthy and the Revolution of Queer Black Male Self-Love (HYPERALLERGIC)

A review of Norsworthy’s exhibition that foregrounds tenderness, vulnerability, and radical self-regard in depictions of queer Black men. The essay situates his work as part of a broader movement toward reshaping how Black queer masculinity is seen, celebrated, and cared for in contemporary art.