NADA Miami 2023

Marcus Brutus is a self-taught artist whose practice explores, in his own words, “ideas of power through portraiture.” Drawing inspiration from diverse source materials culled from fashion, film, music, photography, art, and politics, he interweaves both subtle and overt references to the past and present, the real and imagined, to create vignettes that collapse latent eras and contexts. “What I am trying to do is to establish a legacy,” Brutus explains, “I want to show contemporary issues, but show them as having some long past.” Based in New York, the artist’s work—defined by its emotional intensity, saturated use of color, and dynamic brushstrokes—has been the subject of two solo exhibitions Harper’s New York and East Hampton. Additionally, it has been included in group presentations at venues such as Phillips, New York; Library Street Collective, Detroit; Ramp Gallery, London; and PLUS-ONE Gallery, Antwerp.

Centered on two figures bicycling alongside a body of water, Li Dous Konsa captures a serene, quotidian moment in time, as a way of challenging centuries-old, negative depictions of Black people around the world. One of the figure’s hair glides through the wind as the couple cruises through a grassy field lined with yellow and white flowers, in a deliberately carefree manner intended to highlight positive histories of the global African diaspora. In an homage to the Haitian song that this work borrows its title from, the other figure dons a blue, red, and white outfit that mirrors the colors of the Caribbean nation’s flag. For this edition, Brutus will hand embellish twenty prints by using acrylic paint to add new details and color combinations.