Wonderfully loose paint application and a bold sense of color imbue self-taught artist Marcus Brutus’ paintings with a unique energy. Brutus has said his paintings depict “everyday life, creating universally relatable moments, while celebrating Black life.” In Shouldn’t Have Come Around, a woman’s raised hand suggests an unwelcome person has disturbed the two women who sit cross-legged on the couch, highlighted by the resting cat who turns its head to look out at us. Brutus’ work has been featured in group shows at König Galerie, Berlin; Arsenal Contemporary, New York; and Gana Art, Seoul. His painting Bus Stop appears on the cover of the anthology The Movement for Black Lives: Philosophical Perspectives, published in September 2021 by Oxford University Press.
