An Artist Breaking Racial Barriers!

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            I am an avid art fan. I absolutely love art! I am constantly looking at new art, old art, paintings, nudes, abstracts, anything that I set my eyes on never fails to draw me (no pun intended!) I am very color attracted, but a good black and white can be just as amazing! I was searching google.com for new emerging artists (It keeps me up to date, and I love to notice the “next” before anyone else does) and the first person I came across is the artist, Lord Toph. I have never seen his work until the last couple of days, but I can tell that he is the “next” (seriously, I wish they had baseball cards, except for artists… I guess this would be his rookie card). His is an extremely talented painter. His strokes create a world on its own. He has landscapes, nudes, expression, impression and more. I’m not here to necessarily beef the guy up, but it is crucial to get this point across.

            I say this because he just so happens to be a black artist. PLEASE DON’T click off this article or become offended, because that is not what I intend to do, and I am not a racist. I only ask that you understand where this is going and I have nothing against artist of any race (I am Greek, Irish, and American-Indian myself). Brace yourselves, because this is the hardest part of my article to write. A lot of artist who are of color (of any color or race) who have ever established themselves, keep their artwork bounded in their own culture. What I mean is, that most ethnic artist tend to keep their art subject matter within their own culture. Now, there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with this. I have seen and adored many ethnic artwork and ethnic artist! I find beauty in reaching back to one’s culture for reference and inspiration. But in this case, Lord Toph has not limited his subject matter to that of his culture. He creates landscapes, portraits, nudes, still-lifes, all of which are not confined to a specific culture of ethnic background (and guess what…he does ethnics too). Although he has touched on the ethnic subject, from what I’ve seen, that doesn’t come close to touching the vastness of his shown work. The best part about his work, ethnic and non-ethnic alike is that it is all gorgeous eye candy with layers of emotion in each stroke.   

            So what makes me think that Lord Toph is the “next”? Well, as much as I pay attention to art, I also pay attention to the world of art, and its inhabitants. It is apparent that the artist sells the work, as much as the work sells itself. An artist, who happens to be black, who expands beyond the artistic cultural expectations of the art world, and with great work to boot, is bound to be a hit. I have a knack for these kinds of things. Let’s face it, there hasn’t been a dominate black artist in the art world since Jean Michele Basquiat! That is not a claim, nor does it hold racial ties! It is simply fact! With that said, I can see him having as much of an impact of the art world as Basquiat and others (and let’s hope he is around longer too!).