Art News

In Celebration of Black History Month — Artist Karen Powell

To commemorate the importance of Black History Month this February, Saatchi Art will be featuring 3 prominent artists that are redefining our contemporary art world. For artist Karen Powell, gender, ethnicity, race and nationality are major themes throughout her work. With a combination of vintage photography and mixed media, Karen touches on her own childhood memories and celebrates the African-American experience in a positive, incredibly serene and sensory way.

“Sunflowers in their Hair” by Karen Powell via Saatchi Art

“My most recent works combine abstracts, collage and random marks, which is the antithesis of the directive I was given as a child to ‘always color in the lines’. My inner voice now tells me there are no lines, there is only spontaneity, energy and instinct that compels me to ‘never color in the lines’.” — Karen Powell

Karen is a native New Yorker currently residing in Chicago, IL.  She received her BA in Fine Art from Fisk University before going onto the University of Chicago for graduate study. Her work has appeared on the BET television network, UpScale magazine and she has exhibited extensively in galleries throughout the country. She currently has works on display in the “Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition” at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago.

About the Author

Aurora Garrison is the Artist Community & Curation Manager at Saatchi Art. Need help finding art? Contact our free Art Advisory service at saatchiart.com/artadvisory.