Dawud Shabazz ArtOriginal Detroit Mixed-Media Abstract PaintingsExplore the Collection
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The artist

Made in Detroit.
Built in layers.

Dawud Shabazz, Detroit abstract expressionist artist

A life shaped by creativity.

Dawud Shabazz is a self-taught artist, born and raised in Detroit. At seven years old, he sketched a portrait of his mother. Her pride made the path clear.

His first acknowledgement and exhibition came at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in the late 1990s, where he worked and cared for art on the museum’s mezzanine.

Each idea has a life of its own.

Shabazz works with acrylic paints, glitter, enamel, sand, and other textured elements. A single medium feels too restrictive to his process, so each piece is allowed to manifest and evolve in its own direction.

Multiple hours of attention build up the surface. The intention is not simply to fill a wall, but to create art that captures the eye, opens a moment of serenity, and starts a conversation that can be passed from one generation to the next.

Influences

African American artists including Charles McGee, Judy Bowman, Ed Terrell, Richard Mayhew, and Kerry James Marshall have left a lasting impression on Dawud’s work and artistic life.