Artists

Ta-coumba T. Aiken

b. 1952, Evanston, IL

Ta-coumba T. Aiken. Identity: Lost and Found, 2018. Acrylic on Canvas. 36 x 48 in.

Precious Fortune, 2023
Acrylic on Canvas
72 x 36 in.

Reunion, 2022
Acrylic on Canvas
40 x 40 in.

Holy Spirit, 2021
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 29. in.

Conversation, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
48 x 36 in.

Generation to Generation (diptych), 2023
Acyrlic on canvas
48 x 48 in.

A World of Confusion, 2022
Acrylic on canvas
72 x 72 in.
73. x 73. x 2 in. (framed)

Crossing Borders, 2021
Acrylic on canvas
59. x 48 in.

Soul Searchers, 2021
Acrylic on canvas
36 x 36 in.

Hold On, 2024
Acrylic on Paper
24 x 18 in.
29. x 23. in. (framed)

Can't Turn Around, 2024
Acrylic on Paper
24 x 18 in.
29. x 23. in. (framed)

Wisdom Now, 2024
Acrylic on Paper
24 x 18 in.
29. x 23. in. (framed)

Phantasmagoric 1, 2024
Pigmented enamel on steel
24 x 18 x 18 in.

Phantasmagoric 3, 2024
Pigmented enamel on steel
24 x 18 x 18 in.

Untitled (2), 2021
Acrylic on tape mounted to paper
12 x 9 in.
14. x 11. in. (framed)

Untitled, 2023
Acrylic on tape mounted to paper
12 x 9 in.
14. x 11. in. (framed)

Untitled, 2023
Acrylic on tape mounted to paper
12 x 9 in.
14. x 11. in. (framed)

Untitled (7), 2022
Acrylic on tape mounted to paper
12 x 9 in.
14. x 11. in. (framed)

Scroll

Ta-coumba T. Aiken. Identity: Lost and Found, 2018. Acrylic on Canvas. 36 x 48 in.

Precious Fortune, 2023
Acrylic on Canvas
72 x 36 in.

Reunion, 2022
Acrylic on Canvas
40 x 40 in.

Holy Spirit, 2021
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 29. in.

Conversation, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
48 x 36 in.

Generation to Generation (diptych), 2023
Acyrlic on canvas
48 x 48 in.

A World of Confusion, 2022
Acrylic on canvas
72 x 72 in.
73. x 73. x 2 in. (framed)

Crossing Borders, 2021
Acrylic on canvas
59. x 48 in.

Soul Searchers, 2021
Acrylic on canvas
36 x 36 in.

Hold On, 2024
Acrylic on Paper
24 x 18 in.
29. x 23. in. (framed)

Can't Turn Around, 2024
Acrylic on Paper
24 x 18 in.
29. x 23. in. (framed)

Wisdom Now, 2024
Acrylic on Paper
24 x 18 in.
29. x 23. in. (framed)

Phantasmagoric 1, 2024
Pigmented enamel on steel
24 x 18 x 18 in.

Phantasmagoric 3, 2024
Pigmented enamel on steel
24 x 18 x 18 in.

Untitled (2), 2021
Acrylic on tape mounted to paper
12 x 9 in.
14. x 11. in. (framed)

Untitled, 2023
Acrylic on tape mounted to paper
12 x 9 in.
14. x 11. in. (framed)

Untitled, 2023
Acrylic on tape mounted to paper
12 x 9 in.
14. x 11. in. (framed)

Untitled (7), 2022
Acrylic on tape mounted to paper
12 x 9 in.
14. x 11. in. (framed)

Ta-coumba T. Aiken has spent decades channeling the spirit of his ancestors through form and color in works rooted in abstraction. In a recent essay, Senior Walker Art Center curator Siri Engberg described Aiken as “part of a lineage of Black abstract artists who have employed strategies of abstraction as containers for deep meaning, and as explorations of the personal, the historical, and the social.”

A vessel for the collective memory of his community, Aiken begins each painting with intuitive freeform underpaintings that he terms Spirit Writing. Drawn from the artist’s ancestors, these gestures form the grounds of his work and suggest shared history, community, and experience. Rhythmic and sinuous, Aiken's line doubles back on itself in the infinite manner of a Mobius strip, nesting one body or visage inside another.

Aiken’s work is held in numerous public collections, including the Walker Art Center, The Minnesota Museum of American Art, The Minnesota History Center, the Walker West Music Academy, and the Gillette Children’s Hospital. He attended the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and is the recipient of numerous awards including a 2022 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship in Fine Arts, a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant, a Gottlieb Fellowship and a Bush Visual Arts fellowship. Aiken has served on numerous boards including the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, City of Minneapolis Arts Commission, African American Cultural Arts Center, Forecast Public Arts, Saint Paul Art Collective, and Springboard for the Arts. He has been a public arts advisor to the cities of St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Bloomington, Minnesota, and Marin City, California.

Exhibitions

Abstract artwork featuring a complex, colorful array of intertwining lines and shapes on a textured background.

Can't Turn Around

Solo Exhibition

Awakening

Solo Exhibition

Exhibition Opening

Can't Turn Around

3/8, 6–8PM

Book Launch + Reception

GARDEN PARTY

6/25/2022, 3–5PM

Artist Conversation

Ta-coumba T. Aiken

6/3/2022, 5PM