ARTIST BIO

Brian Branch is a New York–based artist whose work explores the African diaspora through a self-defined lens he calls “Diasporic Surrealism.” Born in Hollis, Queens, and educated at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, Branch returned to visual art after early training in classical music.

Influenced by the Old Masters, classic animation, and the cultural energy of 1980s hip-hop, his oil paintings blend surrealism, Afrofuturism, and rich symbolic storytelling. His works—held in the estate of Maya Angelou and in collections including CCH Pounder and Chaka Khan—examine identity, spirituality, and the subconscious through bold color and dreamlike imagery.

Branch lives and works in Brooklyn and serves as curator and artist-in-residence for the Cooperative Culture Collective.