Famous Black Artists

Jimmy Cliff is best known for popularizing reggae. After beginning his music career singing at local fairs in Jamaica, he scored his first hit, Hurricane Hattie, at 14. He later sang the iconic single Hakuna Matata from The Lion King. He was also the star of the film The Harder They Come.

Kerry James Marshall is an American professor and artist renowned for his artworks and paintings of Black figures. His work has inspired and influenced contemporary artists like Hank Willis Thomas. In 2017, he was mentioned in Time magazine's list of 100 most influential people. Marshall has also taught at prestigious institutions like the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC).

Roscoe Orman is an American actor, artist, writer, and child advocate. He is credited with co-founding the New Lafayette Theatre in New York City, where he directed and acted in many plays by playwright Ed Bullins. A respected figure in New York's theatre circuit, Orman has won two Audelco Theatre Awards among many other prestigious awards and honors.

Though he dropped out of school at standard 6, Ghanaian singer Kwadwo Nkansah, also known as Lil Win, later soared to fame as a musician, comedian, and actor. His own inability to complete his education made him establish the Great Minds International School in Ghana later.

Best known for his Amistad Mutiny murals, Hale Woodruff was raised singlehandedly by his working mother after his father’s death and thus took to drawing to spend time by himself. He later grew up to be a Black art icon and established the Atlanta Annuals to encourage African-American artists.

Currently based in Brussels, Sergine André is an exponent of the Plasticien movement of paintings. Born and raised in the Artibonite region of Haiti, her art draws heavily from her childhood surrounding, conveying an otherworldly feelings and sensations, with joy of life as well as the inevitability of death being some of her recurring themes.