SHIKEITH

“There’s an urgency in the logic behind my envisioning of a malleable Black manhood,” said Shikeith, a visual artist and filmmaker who first came to prominence as a photographer. The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native received a BFA in Photography from Penn State University, and an MFA in Sculpture from the Yale School of Art. He recently exhibited video, photography and blown-glass pieces in a solo show at New York’s Yossi Milo gallery; and created a cover story and accompanying editorial featuring rising Black and Queer artists, inspired by Marlon Riggs' seminal work Tongues Untied which featured a roundtable moderated by Native Son founder Emil Wilbekin, for T: The New York Times Style magazine. Shikeith’s first monograph, released by Aperture, “Notes Towards Becoming a Spill” explores the “intangible presences that haunt [Black men’s] bodies and psyches.” His short films, #Blackmendream (2014), The Black Boy & The Tree (2016), and A Drop of Sun Under the Earth (2017) were screened at Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. —T.T.