Greg Breda - Epiphany, 2018. Acrylic on vellum, 40”x 63” (45 5/8” x 68 5/8” x 2 1/8, framed). Courtesy of the Artist and PATRON Gallery, Chicago. Photo by Aron Gent.

The rise in collecting and investing in emerging or early-career artists have recently led to tendencies towards diversification of authors. The gender and race dialogues have slowly been shifting and thus redirecting our focus on a multiform spectrum of artists. As the appreciation and exposure of female artists have risen in recent years, the same can be expected for Black Artists when the society catches up with cultural development.

Here is a carefully curated selection of five Emerging Black Artists that are worth exploring and considering for your collection. What unifies them is their focus on the human figure and their thoughtful approach to painting it. Yet, they all are unique in their own way.

Greg Breda - A Ladder, 2018. Acrylic on vellum, 63”x 40” (68 5/8” x 45 5/8” x 2 1/8”, framed). Courtesy of the Artist and PATRON Gallery, Chicago Photos by Aron Gent.

Greg Breda - Flood, 2018. Acrylic on vellum 50”x 40” (60 5/8” x 45 5/8” x 2 1/8”, framed). Courtesy of the Artist and PATRON Gallery, Chicago Photos by Aron Gent.

Greg Breda is yet another self-taught artist. He lives and works in LA and works mainly with acrylic on canvas and mylar and paper, creating deeply emotional works highlighting the human soul and spirit.

Breda sources from media as well as from his memory and imagination to create images that challenge the viewer and his circumstances. His thick brushstrokes technique forms faces and figures and the play with light and shadow contributes to the serenity of the picture. Even though the figures appeal strong on the outside, they are fragile on the inside, which is mediated through the soft surroundings and the protagonist’s preoccupied look. His flatness technique and strong graphical presence almost resemble Japanese prints, which makes Breda’s work distinctive. He has already held two solo shows and participated in a number of group shows in the US.