BHM Artist - Kadir Nelson

Kadir Nelson is an award-winning American author and artist who has been featured on the covers of The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, and National Geographic. He has also been commissioned to do album covers for Michael Jackson and Drake. He has authored and/or illustrated over 30 picture books. And his paintings are in the permanent collections of several notable institutions including the US House of Representatives, The National Baseball Hall of Fame, US Postal Museum, the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

“My mission is to create artwork that illustrates the journey of the hero and to remind humanity of the best and noblest parts of itself.”

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Kamala (2024)  (above)
One month before the 2024 US presidential election, Kadir Nelson was commissioned by The New Yorker magazine to create a painting celebrating the potential victory of Vice President Kamala Harris. Had Harris been elected, the painting would have been published on the cover of the November 11, 2024 issue.  

“Henrietta Lacks (HELA): The Mother of Modern Medicine”

In Nelson's portrait, Lacks smiling innocently, standing with beautifully manicured hands crossed and covering her womb (the birthplace of the immortal cell line) while cradling her beloved Bible (a symbol of her strong faith). Her deep red dress is covered with a vibrant floral pattern that recalls images of cell structure and division, while two of the four dime-sized buttons on her dress are missing (a reference to the cells that were taken from her body without her knowledge). Her bright yellow hat functions as a halo (recalling Renaissance paintings of the Madonna), while pearls (a symbol of the aggressive cancer that took her life) hang from her neck. The decorative wallpaper behind her forms a repeated hexagonal pattern, a design containing the “Flower of Life”, an ancient symbol of immortality and exponential growth—two distinctive qualities of her rare and incredibly durable cells.

"American Uprising"

In this modern masterpiece, Nelson borrows postures from Eugène Delacroix’s “Liberty Leading the People,” (1830) and reinvents them with an heroic African American woman and child. The woman wears an American flag scarf, a tee shirt bearing a portrait of George Floyd, and is accompanied by her younger compatriot who enthusiastically joins the uprising. They emerge from a billowing cloud of smoke, both with raised fists while climbing a pedestal, leading a diverse and spirited army of protesters toward justice and equality.

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"After the Storm"

In the midst of the global COVID pandemic, celebrated artist, Kadir Nelson, offers a ray of hope with a triumphant celebration of humanity, determination, faith, and solidarity. Nelson paints a diverse and prideful plinth of souls rising and supporting one another, gazing past heavy storm clouds as they collectively heal, gather strength, and move toward the promise of a brighter and stronger future. With this soaring new masterpiece, the artist challenges all of humankind to stand together, to look upwards and onward to create a path forward and set our sights on moving beyond our current challenges. Nelson offers a powerful glimpse of life after the storm.