Monica Ikegwu: New Growth

Band of Vices is thrilled to present NEW GROWTH, a focused presentation of new paintings by Monica Ikegwu (b. 1998, Baltimore, MD). Recognized for her captivating and unconventional use of color, texture, and composition, Ikegwu pushes portraiture forward through formally incisive paintings that center Black presence and self-definition. Anchored by four self-portraits—V Part, 40 Inch, Body Wave, and BOB—the exhibition explores Black hair culture as both subject and structure, transforming style into a visual lexicon of belonging, play, and power.

Trained in painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art (BFA) and the New York Academy of Art. (MFA), Ikegwu is represented by Galerie Myrtis (Baltimore) and Band of Vices (Los Angeles). Through her portraiture, she aims to give people a platform to present themselves as they truly are, without limitation. Her work has been the subject of multiple solo exhibitions at both galleries and featured in group exhibitions at the Venice Biennale and the Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago). Most recently, her paintings were included in The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century at the Baltimore Museum of Art. She is a recipient of the Mary Sawyers Baker Award and an Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation grant, and has been a Bennett Art Prize finalist. Ikegwu’s work is held in the collections of the Muskegon Museum of Art, Baltimore Museum of Art, Columbus Museum, and the Petrucci Family Foundation.

In NEW GROWTH, Ikegwu positions hair as a deliberate, graphic counterpoint to the modeled head and body—rendered as stark, flat, black forms that read like silhouettes or sculptural armatures. The result is a striking interplay between dimensional flesh and architectonic hair, a choice that emphasizes style as self-authorship. Drawing on the everyday language of wigs and weaves—V part, body wave, 40-inch “buss down,” bob—Ikegwu treats hair as a mutable interface: detachable yet intimate, capable of carrying its own personality or merging seamlessly with the wearer’s.

“I’ve watched Monica sharpen her voice year after year—balancing fearless observation with disciplined craft. Her decision to render hair as bold, graphic shape against the lived topography of the face is as conceptual as it is personal. It’s a lucid statement about agency: how we author our image, how culture speaks through style, and how painting can hold that complexity without compromise.”

Terrell Tilford, Creative Director