Arthur Jafa: I Am Tony

Arthur Jafa (b. 1960, Tupelo, MS) is a filmmaker and artist whose work explores Black identity, culture, and politics. His artistic practice examines visual culture, history, and the social landscape of the United States. In 2019, Jafa won the top artist prize, the Golden Lion Award, at the 58th Venice Biennale for The White Album. Jafa has worked as a director, cinematographer, and/or producer on several films in the pantheon of Black cinema, including Deshotten 1.0 (2009), Tree (1999), Slowly This (1995), Crooklyn (1994), Seven Songs for Malcolm X (1993), and Daughters of the Dust (1991). Jafa has also written essays and delivered lectures on Black aesthetics and visual culture, including texts published in Everything But the Burden: What White People Are Taking from Black Culture (2003) and Black Popular Culture (1992). His work has been shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (2024); Museum of Modern Art, New York (2023); Museum Brandhorst, Munich, Germany (2022); Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2021); UTA Artist Space, Beverly Hills, CA (2019); Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC (2017); Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia (2014); and Whitney Museum of Art, New York (2001), among others. Jafa earned his BA in architecture and film at Howard University.