Exhibition Overview

ULTRABLACK is a powerful new series by visual artist Brian Tolbert celebrating the beauty, complexity & radiance of Black identity.

Through bold contrasts and expressive compositions the series honors culture, resilience, and the full spectrum of human emotion. Each piece invites viewers to engage in self-reflection, encouraging them to find their own meaning and connection within the work.

The ULTRABLACK series began as a personal exercise for Tolbert to reconnect with the joy of creating.

It marks a pivotal shift—from using art as a vehicle for healing past wounds to creating from a place of joy, affirmation, and presence.

“I put so much of my personal story and healing journey into my art. This time, I wanted to take a break and create purely out of joy,” Tolbert explains.

Having previously explored themes of trauma and self-discovery through self-portraiture, ULTRABLACK emerges as a bold new body of work that embraces Blackness as a source of light, strength, and boundless creativity.

The exhibition features 26 original pieces that reflect this expansive vision.

The series showcases striking all-black figures rendered with white highlights, set against vivid, color-saturated backgrounds.

These compositions are both emotionally resonant and visually powerful. Tolbert’s use of acrylic, oil pastel on canvas, and pencil on cardboard adds a textured, handmade quality that invites close engagement.

“This process has been reinvigorating in so many ways. Creating from a place of freedom and letting the work speak for itself has been incredibly liberating. For the first time, I’m asking the audience to tell me what the works mean,” says Tolbert.

ULTRABLACK is an unapologetic declaration of presence—an ode to contrast in both form and experience—and an invitation to witness and celebrate Blackness in its purest, most radiant form.