.

The Minstrel Show Opening Night
The Minstrel ShowLos Angeles, 2021
New YorkArtist
Byron
Linnell
Edwards
The Minstrel Show, Installation View

Painting and works on paper examining racial representation, memory, and self-definition. From The Minstrel Show (2021) to later portraits and abstractions, I use figures, color, and material to question how Black life is seen.

The Minstrel ShowInstallation View · Los Angeles, 2021
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About the Artist

Artist
Statement

I began painting during the pandemic after fifteen years working in entertainment public relations. That experience informs my interest in how images shape public ideas about Black life.

Across painting and works on paper, I use simplified figures, color, and shifts between abstraction and figuration to examine racial representation, memory, and self-definition. The Minstrel Show (2021) confronts the persistence of caricature in American visual culture; later works turn toward questions of belonging and personal agency.

Byron Linnell Edwards
Biography

Byron Linnell Edwards is an artist based in New York. His practice sits at the intersection of personal history and collective memory, working in oil, pastel, and mixed media to interrogate how Black life is represented, commodified, and erased.

His work has been commissioned by Visa, collected by BET Networks, and licensed by Showtime.

Paintings · Works on paper · Works on wood

Selected Works

Paintings and works on paper from The Minstrel Show and subsequent work. Browse by series or material to see how the visual language develops.

Explore The Minstrel Show exhibition →

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Curriculum Vitae

Selected CV

Exhibitions
2021
The Minstrel ShowSolo Exhibition · The Pop Up Shop, Los Angeles, CA
2024
Black History Month, Featured ArtistSip and Wonder, Los Angeles, CA
2024
The Artist Tree, Artist on ViewLos Angeles, CA
2023
In My MindABWB, Los Angeles, CA
2022
Joy All DayBET Networks · Orpheum Theater, New Orleans, LA
Collections and Commissions
2023
VisaCorporate Commission
2022
ViacomCBS / BET NetworksCorporate Collection
2022
Showtime, Your HonorLicensed Artwork · Time Warner
Education
2008
BA, CommunicationGeorge Mason University, Fairfax, VA
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Byron Linnell Edwards
Byron Linnell Edwards
Get in Touch

Studio Inquiries

For exhibitions, studio visits, acquisitions, and commissions.

Email[email protected]Instagram@byron.linnell
Off Center by Byron Linnell Edwards, oil paint and oil pastel on canvas, 2026
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The Minstrel Show, Opening Night
Inaugural Body of Work · Los Angeles, 2021

The
Minstrel
Show

Nine Paintings · Solo Exhibition · November 2021
← Back to Portfolio
About the Work

About the Series

The Minstrel Show examines the history of racial caricature in American visual culture and its persistence in contemporary images.

Across nine works, recurring figures and archetypes raise questions about who controls images of Black life and how those images are consumed.

Simplified figures and emphatic color create tension between the apparent directness of the images and the history they address.

The Exhibition

November 2021

The Minstrel Show opened in November 2021 at The Pop Up Shop in Los Angeles, California. It was Byron Linnell Edwards' first solo exhibition.

The Minstrel Show, Wall 1
The Minstrel Show, Wall 2
The Minstrel Show, Window View