A Curated Collection of Visual Art by Kwasi Boyd-Bouldin
Visual Art
Editor’s Statement
These images take the viewer from city to country, from bustling to bucolic, and back again. They are a photographic journey around and through the landscapes and cityscapes of Los Angeles. The journey begins in the bright light of day, with the grit of industry, softens with sunset light along the path of the L.A. River and into the creeks of the Santa Monica Mountains, and returns back downtown to the toughness of concrete. We cycle along the waterways that literally formed the landscape and along which native and non-native people have lived and built their homes and lives for centuries. This is a digital journey about lines in which we travel, about artistic and personal perspectives, about the flow of water and time, about the forces and people who have shaped the land.
– Brianna J.L. Smyk, Visual Art Editor
Born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Los Angeles, Kwasi Boyd-Bouldin has been an artist for as long as he can remember. An early fascination with animation, graffiti, and skateboarding was the catalyst for his creative career. These elements, combined with his experiences growing up and living in L.A. form the foundation of his professional practice.
A noted photographer, he in 2017 was included on Time magazine’s list of “12 African American Photographers to Follow,” and his project The Public Work was named one of the “Five Art Accounts to Follow” in The New York Times in August 2020. His documentary photography captures the physical legacy of the city by recording architecture, topography, and daily life.
His art practice is closely related to his photo work, drawing inspiration from (and sometimes incorporating) scenes from life in Los Angeles to produce the eclectic, abstract aesthetic he has become known for. The designs, illustrations, and paintings he creates are an expression of daily life’s infinite modulations distilled into color, line, and shape.
He was the lead photographer for the Netflix animation series City of Ghosts and one of two inaugural Creators in Residence for the Los Angeles Public Library in 2022.