Brown, Nakeya

In her If Nostalgia Were Colored Brown series (2013), Nakeya Brown considers the role that hair plays in relation to societal expectations of race and gender. Her still life pictures portray beauty products—such as curlers, domed hair dryers, headwraps, and relaxing creams—alongside vintage album covers and against candy-colored pastel backdrops. The images contemplate the political implications of natural hair while calling into question the dominant white standards of beauty in defining contemporary femininity.

Brown completed her BA in Visual Art/Journalism and Media Studies from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ (2010) and her MFA from George Washington University, Washington, D.C. (2017). Her work has been exhibited at The McKenna Museum of African American Art, New Orleans, LA (2012); Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL (2013,2016); Hamiltonian Gallery, Washington, D.C. (2017); and the Urban Institute of Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, MI (2017). Brown was the Director’s Pick for the Signature Art Prize Award of London (2015) and the Photography Award from the Maryland State Council for the Arts (2018). She was the winner of the 2017 Snider Prize.