Brushstrokes Between Worlds
At the crossroads of culture and canvas, the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati has unveiled something rare and resonant—Marcus Leslie Singleton: New Steps, the first-ever solo museum exhibition by the rising figurative painter whose name is starting to echo in the halls of contemporary American art. Open now through October 19, 2025, this exhibition doesn’t just showcase artwork—it invites you into a lived experience, one brushstroke at a time.
Curated by Theresa Bembnister, New Steps pulls from a deeply personal journey that Marcus Leslie Singleton embarked on in early 2024. The artist, known for his emotionally rich portrayals of Black life, traveled to Côte d'Ivoire for a residency at La Fourchette de Rōze, a boutique hotel and creative retreat in Abidjan. It was his first time on African soil—a homecoming of sorts, layered with beauty, tension, revelation, and peace. The work that followed was not just a geographic departure from his Catskill, New York studio—it was a spiritual and emotional one.
From Catskill to the Continent
Singleton is no stranger to emotion. His paintings, even before his West African travels, pulsed with life and intimacy. Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Singleton took an unconventional path into the art world. No Ivy League MFA, no early gallery anointing—just raw talent, disciplined storytelling, and a growing reputation among curators who recognized that this was someone with something real to say.
Singleton’s work is steeped in figuration, a style of painting where people and places take precedence over abstraction. But his approach doesn’t deal in formality—it leans into softness, spontaneity, and human connection. The result? Portraits of everyday Black life that feel both hyper-specific and completely universal.
He paints friends in laughter, relatives resting on couches, moments that feel like they were never meant for an audience—but are quietly elevated by his brush. With loose strokes, saturated colors, and striking composition, Singleton captures the nuances of love, care, fatigue, and reflection that define so many untold stories.
A New Palette of Perspective
The heart of New Steps is the work inspired by Singleton’s time in Abidjan. For a Black American artist, the first encounter with Africa is not just a vacation or an art sabbatical—it’s a collision of imagined heritage and lived reality. What Singleton found in Côte d’Ivoire was not just inspiration—it was connection. He didn’t go there to be a tourist. He went to listen, observe, absorb. And what he brought back was a palette richer than color: a deeper sense of belonging, ancestral awareness, and creative transformation.
The exhibition is a mix of paintings, drawings, and video pieces. Some works are observational—scenes of street life, market stalls, and shared meals. Others are introspective: portraits of his family, studies of his own emotional landscape, moments where the lines between the artist and the subject dissolve. It’s all part of what Singleton calls his “new steps”—a continuation of personal and cultural evolution that expands the emotional vocabulary of his work.
There’s no posturing in Singleton’s art. He’s not trying to prove a point, win a headline, or shout above the noise. Instead, his work is quietly revolutionary, because it dares to sit in stillness and tell the truth. And in a time when spectacle often outpaces substance, that kind of honesty is its own form of protest.
The Power of Seeing
Singleton’s subjects—many of them people he knows—are painted with dignity, care, and presence. There’s a reason why his art resonates so deeply: it’s because he paints people the way we want to be seen. Not flattened by narrative. Not defined by trauma. But alive in their ordinary brilliance.
What’s powerful about New Steps is how Singleton invites viewers into two worlds simultaneously—the domestic spaces of Black America and the communal rhythms of West Africa. You’ll find joy in both, but also complexity: nostalgia, dislocation, humor, solitude. He doesn’t force resolution. He honors the in-between.
Experience the Exhibition
Located in the heart of Downtown Cincinnati, the Contemporary Arts Center has long been a site for progressive, thought-provoking art. With Marcus Leslie Singleton: New Steps, the CAC continues its commitment to spotlighting emerging voices who challenge, inspire, and reflect the world around us.
The exhibition is free and open to the public, making it accessible to anyone curious enough to step into Singleton’s world. For those unable to visit in person, the CAC offers downloadable videos from the exhibition opening and high-resolution images of select works—an invitation to engage, even from afar.
A Step Toward Something Bigger
Marcus Leslie Singleton is still in the early chapters of his career, but the work on display in New Steps feels like a milestone. It’s not just a career benchmark—it’s a moment of artistic arrival. These aren’t just paintings; they’re maps of memory and identity, drawn in oil, emotion, and observation.
In the landscape of American art, Singleton stands as a necessary voice—one that reminds us that the mundane can be monumental, that beauty lives in the everyday, and that the next step in understanding each other might just begin with looking more closely.
If you're in Cincinnati this summer or fall, go see New Steps. And if you're not, make a plan. Because Marcus Leslie Singleton isn’t just painting—he’s building bridges between lives, across oceans, and through time.