Each month, join MoAD staff as we visit some of our favorite artists to see what they’re currently working on and their journey to becoming an artist. This is a rare opportunity to hear from artists directly from their studios. We follow all talks with an audience Q&A.

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Bryan Keith Thomas was born in Dyersburg, Tennessee, and he received his Master of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 1996. Thomas currently resides in Oakland, California, where he works as a Professor of Fine Art within the Painting & Drawing and Critical Ethnic Studies departments at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, CA.
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Thomas received the "White House Honor" as First Lady Laura Bush's guest for his work within the Art in Embassies Program (Washington, DC.) In addition, his work has been exhibited locally, nationally, and internationally at Art Basel (Miami, Fl), de Young Museum (San Francisco, CA); the Oakland Museum of California (Oakland, CA); Gallery Guichard (Chicago, IL); ArtJaz Gallery (Philadelphia, PA); E&S Gallery (Louisville, KY) the American Embassy (Dakar, Senegal); Du Sable Museum (Chicago, IL) among others. Furthermore, his paintings are in several private and public collections worldwide.

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"My works of art celebrate the Black experience through its historic symbols; cotton, roses, Church fans, Holy Bibles, and the African and African American image. The mirrors in my works, inspired by the Minkisi- Power figures and nail fetishes from central Africa, symbolize desire, mortality, and ancestral protection. The nails hold the energy of a prayer request. The small cloth bags (Heirloom Bags) adorning many of the paintings bear the spiritual and physical memories of the ancestor. In addition, the bags contain seeds, money, crystals, hair, prayer cloths, and more.

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Growing up in the South, I remember how Southern Matriarchs adorned in tailored white dresses and glowing ebony skin, by standing in a doorway, could exude a presence that would completely envelop the room. They celebrated the luxury of being- Black, Southern, and eternal icons. It is this respectability of the human figure residing in a holy moment that I wish to engage the viewer.
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I will always give homage to those people and experiences that brought me here. All the things I remember about my past, cultivate, clarify, and define my now."

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