It’s unmistakable. The rich colors, the striking faces, the sober-yet-sanguine tone: This is a Kadir Nelson piece.
The prolific, award-winning artist has been turning out masterful work for Dreamworks, Rolling Stone, Drake, Spike Lee, and many, many more for a long time now, but some of his most recent pieces – including an illustration of George Floyd for the New Yorker – are receiving international acclaim for capturing the spirit of a beleaguered yet-determined movement.
His long-standing relationship with the show ‘Black-ish’ resulted in his creation of the season’s seminal artwork, a stunning rendering of the sitcom family that’s defined Black excellence for the better part of a decade. It’s a breathtaking piece, one that captures the shows wry spirit and subtle gravitas, each character stoically dressed in black or dark blue, set against a tree-lined suburban backdrop. It feels like a declaration: Ain’t no stopping us now.
In interviews, Nelson is reserved but forthright, choosing his words carefully but making his mission clear: to give us hope in dark times. He speaks passionately about his work on books aimed at young people, a generation of dreamers and artists he hopes to inspire to make art of their own. We also talked about music, and the rhythm inherent in his fluid, forceful work.
There’s also a bit where we talk about the Earth regenerating itself while much of humanity was or is stuck at home, greenery sprouting where there was none. This notion of growth, of beauty in hard times is the soul of so much of his work, and, I would guess, a guiding principal of his life.