#Don'tDeleteArt: A Conversation with BLACKMAU

BLACKMAU is multimedia artist Stacey “BLACKSTAR” Robinson, and psychologist, Kamau “DJ Kamaumau” Grantham. Through digital collage they utilize visual and sound aesthetics that are influenced by their art inspirations. This prompts a conversation of Black liberation as a reality deferred. Their works converse Black people’s erasure from future spaces, by creating immersive surreal multimedia experiences. By centralizing the audience within the narrative BLACKMAU prompts them to imagine themselves within the spaces alongside the Black subject to examine what that means. 

Stacey Robinson, born in Albany, NY is a multimedia artist influenced by Black liberation politics, science fiction, horror, animation, comic books, and more. He is a graphic novelist, curator, DJ and Associate Professor of Graphic Design, and Studio. He was a 2019-2020 Nasir Jones Hip-Hop Fellow at Harvard University’s Hutchins Center for African & African American Research who completed his MFA at SUNY Buffalo. Books include: ‘I Am Alfonso Jones’ from Lee & Low Books, written by Tony Medina, and ‘Across the Tracks: Remembering Greenwood, Black Wall Street, and the Tulsa Race Massacre’, from Abrams Books, written by Alverne Ball.

Dr. Kamau Grantham, a native of Buffalo, NY, is a clinical psychologist at the Counseling Center where he has been on staff since 2014. Grantham has worked in mental health for over 30 years, and also finds solace creating music and art. He utilizes his background as a DJ to create digital collages grounded in music, science fiction, and film, to celebrate the Black body and center it within visual worlds he finds aesthetically pleasing. Through his art, he aims to celebrate the humanity and beauty in Black people, and to inspire others to create.

Questions? Contact the iSchool at Illinois.