Shabazz Larkin

Artist Statement: Contemporary American artist Shabazz Larkin situates his practice within portraiture’s long tradition and the enduring language of the monument. For Larkin, every work operates as a monument, whether intimate portrait or sculptural form, built to hold presence against time. Working across painting, sculpture, and text, he engages the visual language of the holy and the ornament to render figures shaped by diasporic traditions and American history. Language often enters his practice as inscription, refrain, and invocation, sharpening the image into communal testimony. Anchored by themes of fatherhood, community and guided by contemplative practice, Larkin’s paintings and sculptures function as both empathetic witness and cultural protection, where tenderness and power coexist and presence becomes the central act.

2026 Acrylic and various materials on carved wood panels, 7'x9'

Portrait of Justin Jones, 2025 Acrylic on canvas

Carved Wood and Nails, 2024

They Call Her Pinks

Portrait of my mother, 2024 Acrylic on Canvas

Illusive Father

2019, Acrylic on Canvas 48x70"

Imperfect Father

2019, acrylic on canvas 48x60"

Portrait of Erykah Badu, 2023 Collage, Acrylic, paper on canvas 36"x60"

Moquette Sculpture 2024, Bronze statue & Marble plinth, Nashville Tennessee

Ashley at Coffee

2024, Acrylic on Canvas

Music City Pillar, Nashville Tennessee

To The Ancestors

Quilt of Maya Angelou By Shabazz Larkin & Ashley Larkin, 36x48

Quilt by Shabazz Larkin, Ashley Larkin & Legend Larkin, 36x48

Quilt by Shabazz Larkin & Ashley Larkin, 36x48

Fragile Black Man 139

2020, Acrylic on Canvas 62x76"

Miles Sanctuary

Portrait of Miles Davis, 2019, Acrylic on Canvas

Fisk Jubilee Singers

Music City Pillar, Nashville Tennessee

Bouquet Portraits

2024, Acrylic on Canvas

2024 Acrylic on Canvas with priest bells, 40"x40"

Brother, Brother

2024 Acrylic on un-stretched Canvas, hung by copper bar.

Architect of Rock and Roll

Portrait of Little Richard, 2019, Acrylic on Canvas with fringe and stitched finishings 45"x62"

El Haj Malik El Shabazz

Portrait of Malcom X - 2019 Acrylic On Un-stretched Canvas | 45x62

Rest In Peace While You Are Alive

2021, Neon Signs 35x42"

Three Flowers of Enlightenment

Old Story, Do Me, Work to Do, _ 2025 Acrylic on stretched Canvas, 6' x 8'

Acrylic on Stretched canvas by Shabazz Larkin & Legend Larkin, 40x60

2025, Acrylic on Canvas 48x56"

Table of Presence

2024, Refinished table, books, flowers bronze butterfly. 37x50x24"

A Sister's Embrace

2023, Acrylic on canvas

↑Back to Top