Russell Craig

Russell Craig is a New York-based artist whose work combines portraiture with deep social and political themes. He is the co-founder of Right of Return USA, the first national fellowship dedicated to supporting formerly incarcerated artists.

A selftaught artist who survived nearly a decade of incarceration after growing up in the foster care system, Craig creates art as a means to explore the experience of overcriminalized communities and reassert agency after a lifetime of institutional control. His work is in the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum and the Studio Museum. His work has been shown at MoMA PS1, African American Museum in Philadelphia, Aperture Gallery, Malin Gallery, Martos Gallery, and HBO’s OG Experience.

His work has garnered coverage in outlets including Artforum, ArtNews, ArtinAmerica, Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Post, Artsy, The Guardian, and The New York Times. He was selected for an Art For Justice Fellow in 2018 and Silver Arts Residency in 2022. He has also created numerous public art commissions with Mural Arts Philadelphia’s Restorative Justice Guild Program.