Amir Diop
Co-founder
*For press and media, contact:
Aliya Ta’sia Brown
Manager
Amir Diop Studios
+1 (929) 215-5862
aliyatbrown@gmail.com
Amir Diop emerged on New York City’s art scene in late February, 2020 after receiving Conception Art Show’s, Award for Excellence. Little did he know that within a mere few weeks later, his art would find voice in the experience of a global pandemic followed by the rage of injustice on black lives living on Americas soil.
A then, twenty-one year old, Diop, took to the streets of SoHo, N.Y.C. to deliver his message of existence and relevance, as a black man, by painting on the plywood boards that covered the windows of retail shops, following the police killing of George Floyd. His daily efforts lead him to meet others, who, in a time of unsureness, isolation and frustration found calm and beauty in creating murals. These chance meetings bonded into an artists collective, SoHo Renaissance Factory (SRF), which Diop is a founding member.
While many of Amir’s peers were earning their four year college degrees, Amir was was in the trenches of an accelerated life experience. Being a Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, NY native he was prepared to see and express life, as it is, through youthful eyes vividly exhibited in his painting style. One of Amir Diop’s widely popular plywood pieces ‘went missing’ shortly after it was completed and garnered the attention of the press. Soon thereafter, Amir was featured in articles at The Verge, Up Mag and Esquire.
In September 2020, Amir Diop and SRF cemented an artists residency at the NoMo SoHo Hotel in Soho. In addition, the collective has collaborated with Sotheby’s on an exhibition at the National Arts Club (NAC), which ran December 2020-January 2021, as well as with the SoHo Broadway Initiative on the All In NYC banner campaign.
En Route to Positivity, Diop’s solo exhibition with Gobbi Fine Art, debuted in August 2021 at the legendary Platinum Recording Studios, pioneered by Fugees, The Score, producer, Jerry “Wonda” Duplessis. Here, Diop, formally introduced his unique framing style and coined the phrase “Paintception”.
Amir Diop has gone on to display his works at, the Wilson store, Staten Island Ferry Kiosk, 125th Street Harlem Kiosk and the NoMo SoHo Hotel.
“Diop didn’t have permission to paint on those boards or on dozens of other boards he turned into works of art across SoHo. In the ‘60s and ‘70s, artists transformed the neighborhood of SoHo from an industrial area into the center of fashion and design it is today. When the pandemic shuttered businesses, the neighborhood more closely resembled its old, emptier self — block after block devoid of anything but boarded-up buildings. When the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police sparked massive protests, demonstrators and artists brought life to the neighborhood again. The streets became an outdoor gallery for protest art.
...each layer of paint is evidence of hours of labor they invested in their causes. The resulting works of art are invaluable as symbols of the ideals that have propelled one of the most pivotal civil rights movements in the nation’s history.”
