Moridje Kitenge Banza, @moridjakitenge on Instagram
Congo-born, Montreal-based, and critically acclaimed mixed media visual artist Moridje Kitenge Banza produces striking pieces that seem to collapse any distinction between the present and the past. His work straddles reality and fiction, referencing historical, religious, and cultural iconography with a distinct style and contemporary sensibility. His art frequently takes on explicit political and de-colonial implications, such as De 1848 à nos jours – coupe de bateau négrier, which depicts the outline of an 1848 slave boat composed entirely of metal spoons.
Lola Kingsley, @lolakingz on Instagram
Lola Kingsley is a Montreal-based film photographer and recent Concordia graduate who has worked with clients like Vans Canada, Eddie Bauer, and i-D Korea. Her minimalist style and investment in analog photography allows her to strip any excess and focus solely on revealing her subjects authentically. This process lends a distinctively nostalgic and spontaneous air to her work. Her most recent exhibition, Goodbye This Is…, explores youth culture and the concept of coming of age, charting a visual narrative of transition in the context of urban cityscapes.
Rakim Jah, @rakimjah on Instagram
Rakim Jah is a Beninese animator and multimedia visual artist based in Montreal whose striking 2D graphics and acrylic paintings depict existential Afrocentric scenes in rich, deep colour. His work deals with themes like digitalization, ancestry, interpersonal dynamics, assorted cultural influences, and the interplay between spirituality and the human body.
Yaël Legris, @puff.bby on Instagram
Yaël Legris’ surrealist acrylic and digital paintings depict figures in ambiguous, swirling backgrounds imbued with spirituality. Her work is moody and ephemeral, typically done in a palette of dark blues, deep rusty oranges, and shades of black and grey. Her paintings are often informed by her own feelings and personal history, representing states of mind or important moments in her life.
Stanley Wany, @stanwany on Instagram
Stanley Wany is a successful visual artist and graphic novelist that has garnered recognition for his distinctive large-scale painting installations and shadowy, sketch-style drawings and comics. This medium serves as the perfect conduit for themes of personal history, identity, ancestry, colonization, and climate change. His multimedia installation work includes the striking 2022 installation For Those Who Chose the Sea and Unpredictable Spaces last year at Galerie de l’UQAM.