Murjoni Merriweather

Murjoni Merriweather is a contemporary American artist, whose work seeks to highlight the beauty of coloured people by normalising what is natural about Black bodies.. Merriweather early on found that the best way to discuss Black culture is through art, in her case working with clay, creating sculpted beings that are based on real people with real experiences. Merriweather’s work, thus, addresses, and seeks to eliminate, stereotypes by going against the European standards of ‘beauty’ that often have been forced upon people of colour. Merriweather, herself, has stated how:

My work is based around self-love and it channels different parts of our culture. It could be hair culture, grills culture, jewellery, our nails, any part of our culture. I want our culture to be normalised. I feel like people see us as different. We’re not accepted. Even with the way we are portrayed in the media, we’re constantly portrayed as something negative. And that’s not even close to how we really are. I want people outside of our race to understand who we are. I also want our people to understand that we’re okay and beautiful the way that we are.

Merriweather grew up in Temple Hills, Maryland, United States of America. During her time there, she fell in love with art at the tender age of eight, learning how to draw (based on the painstaking technique of trial and error) with art kits given to her by her parents. After dabbling in drawing, painting, photography, and graphic design, Merriweather went on to explore the possibilities inherent in ceramics by the time she was in 8th grade. This encounter with clay opened up new possibilities for the artist who started using the material as the basis for an artistic production that reflected her view of the Black experience.

In 2018 Merriweather subsequently graduated from Baltimore’s MICA, Maryland Institute College of Art with a BFA degree in Ceramics and concentration in Film/Video.

Merriweather has also been able to develop her skills as an artist through the following residencies: Creative Alliance, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. (2019-2022); Fountainhead Residency, Miami, Florida, U.S.A. (2021); The Alma | Lewis Residency, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. (2022) and Residency at the Studios MASS MoCA, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams, Massachusetts, U.S.A. (2024).

Merriweather’s work has been included in the following, selected, exhibitions: The Radical Act of Taking Up Space, VisArts, Rockville, Maryland, U.S.A. (2019); OUR WORLD, Co-Curated by Derrick Adams and Thomas James, Eubie Blake Cultural Center, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. (2019-2020); BLACK VOICES/BLACK MICROCOSM, Curated by Destine Ross-Sutton, CFHILL, Stockholm, (2020); Shattered Glass, Jeffery Deitch, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. (2021); S H I N I N’, Solo exhibition, Eubie Black Cultural Center, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. (2021); When Two or More are Gathered, Amani Lewis & LiveArt Market, New York, NY, U.S.A. (2021); The Hair Show, The Bunker Artspace, Beth Dewoody Collection, Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.A. (2021); Shattered Glass, Jeffery Deitch, Art Basel Miami, Miami, Florida, U.S.A. (2021); Art Basel Miami, Jeffery Deitch, Miami, Florida, U.S.A. (2021); Art Basel Miami, Chateau Ciroc, Miami, Florida, U.S.A. (2021);There is Always One Direction, De La Cruz Collection, Miami, Florida (2021-2022); Rooted in Voyage, Band of Vices, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. (2022); Hues, Hannah Traore Gallery, New York, NY; U.S.A. (2022); Like Wildflowers, Cereus Art & NYC Culture Club, New York, NY, U.S.A. (2022); (sur)face: portraits re-examined, Bruce Gallery, Edinboro campus, Pennsylvania Western University, Edinboro, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. (2022); Narration Within Material, T & Y Projects, Tokyo (2022); The Walk , Solo Show at Creative Alliance, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. (2022); Activating the Renaissance, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. (2022-2023); The Culture: Hip-Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. (2023); Genius: The Celebration Of A Genius, Stevie Wonder, Art Melanated, West Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. (2023); Singular Views: 25 Artists, Rubell Museum DC, Washington D.C. (2023-2024); Recent Acquisitions, Rubell Museum, Miami, Florida, U.S.A. (2024) and She Said, She Said: Contemporary Women Artists, Akron Art Museum, Akron, Ohio, U.S.A. (2025).

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