Malene (ma-lay-nee) Djenaba (jen-na-ba) Barnett is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist, textile surface designer, and community builder. In her work, she explores both her Caribbean heritage and surface pattern design found in African and diasporic architecture, textiles, and objects. From art and design to research, writing, and public speaking, she works to empower and unite Black artists and designers through community building.
Barnett’s incised ceramic vessels and architectural installations, woven portraits and photo-based collages have been exhibited at galleries and museums throughout the United States, including the Museum of the African Diaspora (San Francisco), Kingston Biennale at the National Gallery of Jamaica, African American Museum of Dallas, Mindy Solomon Gallery (Miami), the Museum of Science + Industry (Chicago), Sugar Hill Museum (NYC), and Temple Contemporary (Philadelphia). Her art and design work have been featured in magazines including The New York Times, Galerie, Elle Decor, Architectural Digest, Departures and Interior Design, and on Room to Inspire (Magnolia Network, HBO Max).
Barnett holds an MFA in Ceramics from the Tyler School of Art & Architecture, undergraduate degrees in fashion illustration and textile surface design from the Fashion Institute of Technology, and was awarded a Fulbright Award in 2022 to research African Jamaican ceramic traditions as a visiting artist at Edna Manley College in Kingston, Jamaica. Her works are in private and public collections that include Los Angeles County Museum and National Museum of African American History and Culture.
To learn more about Malene Djenaba Barnett, visit https://www.malenebarnett.com/
Malene’s residency is generously sponsored in part by Rob Greenstein.
