Make Art. Not War.

Shabazz Larkin

Artist Statement: Contemporary American artist Shabazz Larkin situates his practice within portraiture’s long tradition and the enduring language of the monument. For Larkin, every work operates as a monument, whether intimate portrait or sculptural form, built to hold presence against time. Working across painting, sculpture, and text, he engages the visual language of the holy and the ornament to render figures shaped by diasporic traditions and American history. Language often enters his practice as inscription, refrain, and invocation, sharpening the image into communal testimony. Anchored by themes of fatherhood, community and guided by contemplative practice, Larkin’s paintings and sculptures function as both empathetic witness and cultural protection, where tenderness and power coexist and presence becomes the central act.
2026
Banker's Alley
2026 Acrylic and various materials on carved wood panels, 7'x9'
2025
This Is How It Is Right Now
Julia Martin Gallery, Nashville Tennessee
2025
Flowers & Deamons
The Forge Gallery, Nashville Tennessee
2025
The Fragile Black Men
Frist Art Museum, Nashville Tennessee
2024
Fisk Jubilee Singers
Music City Pillar, Nashville Tennessee
2024
Little Richard
Music City Pillar, Nashville Tennessee
2024
War/Delusion
Frist Art Museum, Nashville Tennessee
2024
The Rituals
Zeitgeist Gallery, Nashville Tennessee
2021
Seattle Spheres Residency
Seattle, Washington - 2021 - In the summer of 2021, I packed my kids onto a plane and went to Seattle to spend the season working inside the Amazon Spheres.
2021
Rest In Peace While You Are Alive
Nka Gallery, North Nashville, Tennessee
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