Presence & Power: The Bold Portraiture of Monica Ikegwu
Published Sep 15, 2025
Baltimore-based artist Monica Ikegwu channels the essence of her family and community into captivating portraits that fuse luminous realism with bold, graphic elements.
Monica’s paintings focus on the nuances of African American life, balancing personal narratives with wider cultural observations. Whether it’s the quiet strength of a single subject or the dynamics between two figures, her canvases explore how identity is shaped through relationships and surroundings.
Over the years, she has established herself as a leading voice in contemporary figurative painting, with works held in museum collections and featured in major group exhibitions. Her latest series, New Growth, is currently on view at Band of Vices in Los Angeles (September 13 – October 25, 2025), where she turns to self-portraiture to reimagine Black hair as both language and architecture, as seen in the first few images highlighted here.
Discover more of Monica Ikegwu’s work on her website and Instagram.
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