72”x48”v2.5” 182.88cm x 121.92cm . Acrylic, Paint Maker, Oil Stick. 2021

Drawing upon his childhood fascination with crafting small, sculptural objects from found materials, in 1974, Shaw challenged himself to a forge a career in art. He taught himself the basics of sculptural technique and gained empirical knowledge of materials.

Ernest Shaw paints narrative portraits of notable Black figures on canvas and community walls to celebrate and depict Black culture’s impact in America. He believes that he must tell stories of Black Americans to challenge stereotypes about Black people, particularly Black men, that have persisted and evolved in America since its inception.

Over the last three decades, Shaw produced a body of work that is both protean and prolific, exploring a variety of different mediums and techniques and challenging the fundamental concepts of balance, composition, gravity, compression and expansion.

Ernest Shaw, Jr. died peacefully at Prisma Health in Columbia, South Carolina on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, following a beautiful conversation with his mother. He was born to Ernest and Dolores Ann Henderson Shaw in Sumter, South Carolina on February 10, 1978.

A reviewer of a one man show I had at the Williams College Art Museum in 1988 wrote: “Shaw has an “eye” for the truth of things at a primal level … a work profoundly archetypal without the barriers of specialized “art language.”

PhD in Philosophy/Art Theory, Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts, Expected Graduation Date 2027. 2005 MFA, Howard University, Washington, D.C. 2001 BFA, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD. Experience. Residencies. 2021 MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA 2021 Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY 2022 Studios @ Key West, FL 2022 VCCA, Amherst, VA.

“An artist is a sort of emotional or spiritual historian. His role is to make you realize the doom and glory of knowing who you are and what you are.” The journey to self-discovery lasts a lifetime. That journey is the cornerstone of Ernest Shaw’s artistic and educational practice.

Mar 21, 2022 · Baltimore native and visionary artist Ernest Shaw Jr. is a unique storyteller. In his decades-long career, Shaw, 53, has won numerous awards and accolades for his dignified and spirited images of the people of the African diaspora and their impact on American culture.

Baltimore School for the Arts alumnus Ernest Shaw is a painter and a teacher who has also become a well-known mural artist in Baltimore City. He’s currently an artist in residence at Motor House as well.