Shawn Theodore is a Philadelphia-based conceptual artist, writer, and theorist whose work navigates the intersection of myth making and world building, collective memory, and Black speculative practice. His artistic photography practice combines staged portraiture, collage, abstraction, and ritual narrative to explore the metaphysics of Black identity and cultural belonging.

Theodore is the originator of Afromythology®, a framework for visualizing the ancestral, the imagined, and the imminent in Black life. His work has been exhibited at institutions such as the African American Museum, Philadelphia, The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, and The Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, and is held in the permanent collections of the the National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Theodore has contributed to national campaigns for Apple and Spotify, and his images have appeared in The Atlantic, Smithsonian Magazine, NY Magazine, and The New York Times. His academic work expands the discourse around Black image-making, spiritual performance, and temporal sovereignty. He is currently authoring several manuscripts that merge theory, visual culture, and ritual practice.

Web: www.shawntheodo.re ; IG: @_xst

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