COLOSSAL MEDIA
PUBLIC MURALS
We are thinkers. We are creators. We are storytellers.
Representation in the arts matters because it helps to reinforce models of success for emerging and current Black artists, makers, and designers. It provides creatives with role models in respective fields. Seeing more faces that look like yours succeed illuminates not a path, but possibility.
Colossal Media came to BADG with an idea—they had access and control of public art locations in New York and Los Angeles, typically occupied by white artists. In our work with them, we matchmade the perfect talent fit with Guild Maker Karen J. Revis, a painter, printmaker, and patternmaker.
The result is Colossal’s Represent: Black Arts, the first iteration in a series of public artworks, spotlighting original works by artists from underrepresented communities.
I want these young men to be protected, so I gave them names of what I wish for all Black men: MMUSUYIDEE, which means “that which removes bad luck” and is a symbol of good fortune and sanctity, and FIHANKRA—a house or compound and a symbol of security and safety typically found in Akan (Asante) architecture.
- KAREN J. REVIS
Bold, public displays of proud black men in our society are few and far between, let alone those created and captured by female, black artists. Our work with Colossal Media provided a platform for one of our Makers to nudge people folks into expecting more.
I want the message of my work to be unapologetically Black. I’m proud to be a part of this.”
- KAREN J. REVIS
Meet the Designer
Karen J Revis is an artist based in New York City who is driven by process and materials. She is a printmaker using a variety of techniques including monotypes, lithographs, etchings, linoleum cuts, collagraphs and papermaking. Her Karen J. Revis Studio portfolio comprises abstract works, vibrant with color and texture. In 2017 she started Revisionary Prints, which was created to explore her experience growing up in an all black community in the 60’s and being black and existing in today's political climate.
