The Uhmericans underscore Brutus’s examination of black American identity and contemporary civil rights struggles through figuration. This piece depicts two sitting figures, wearing the jerseys of athletes that have staged protests. The title is also a play on Robert Frank's The Americans, however, Brutus depicts the American experience from an opposing perspective.

Marcus Brutus’s paintings explore, in the artist’s words, “ideas of power through portraiture.” Brutus' work considers "the power of a black subject to define their own culture, standards of beauty, heroes, and identity.”

Brutus, a New York-based, self-taught artist, previously worked in Public Relations, which he studied at the St. John’s University in Queens. Brutus now deftly applies his innate ability of storytelling to art. Drawing inspiration from diverse source materials culled from the realms of fashion, film, music, photography, art, and politics, he fluidly interweaves subtle and overt references to the past and present, the real and imagined to create vignettes that seem to collapse discrete eras and context.

Marcus Brutus
The Uhmericans, 2020
22" x 22"
Archival Pigment Print
Hand-signed and numbered by Marcus Brutus
Limited edition of 40 with 3 AP

ART FOR CHANGE will donate a portion of proceeds to the International Rescue Committee in support of humanitarian aid in the wake of the devastating earthquakes in Syria and Turkey for the duration of 5 Years: An Art For Change Survey on view through March 25, 2023. As in all series, the artist will receive 50% of the net proceeds of print sales.

*International customers are responsible for applicable duties and taxes.
*Unframed prints ship within 1-3 weeks.
*Framed prints ship within 3-6 weeks.

Marcus Brutus, The Uhmericans, 2020; Signed and Numbered Limited Edition Print Framed in White Wood