Father Stretch My Hands
c. 2024
#bybmoore
Ever since Sonya Massey was murdered by police I’ve been thinking about her last words….
“I rebuke you in the name of Jesus, I’m sorry”
Father stretch these hands and cover us in protection. Someone protect us…. Cuz those sworn to protect us are killing us.
Amen. ✝️
// (Psalms 143:6-11)
I stretch my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land.
Answer me quickly, LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit.
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.
Rescue me from my enemies, LORD, for I hide myself in you.
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
For your name’s sake, LORD, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble.
- (Psalms 143:6-11)
//
Father Stretch My Hands
36x48”
acrylic, graphite, 24k gold & green foil leaf
//
unprimed Belgian linen
c. 2024
#bybmoore
#artcollection #church #fineart #acrylicpainting #psalms #privatecollection #artcollector
Straight Shooter
(Masters Series)
c. 2026
#bybmoore
Calvin Peete was the most successful Black Golfer on the PGA tour prior to Tiger Woods and to this day, the most accurate driver in PGA tour history.
Like many Black Americans access to experience things like golf are not common. Calvin also had a disabled left arm that he couldn’t fully straighten. Those who know golf, not being able to straighten your arm defies standard golf training.
Having discovered golf at the age of 23 (1966) Calvin Petee became a pro by age 32 (1975).
He secured 12 PGA Tour victories between 1979 and 1986.
According to East side golf: @eastsidegolf
Throughout his illustrious career, Peete’s accuracy remained unparalleled. Remarkably, he only hit one ball out of bounds in 1,200+ rounds of professional golf.
In 1983 following the Masters tournament, Petee was asked about the traditions of the Masters tournament and Petee was disturbed but responded “To ask a Black man what he feels about the traditions of the Masters is like asking him how he feels about his forefathers who were slaves.”
Calvin Peete passed away on April 29, 2015 at the age of 71. As we celebrate his legacy, let us not only remember his remarkable achievements on the course but also his resilience in overcoming adversity. His story serves as an inspiration to golfers everywhere, reminding us that with determination and dedication, anything is possible.
Calvin Peete was and still is the most accurate driver in all PGA Tour history.
A real straight shooter.
Straight Shooter
(Masters Series)
c. 2026
58” x 52”
acrylic charcoal 24k gold leaf // canvas
Please inquire
#golf #pga #art
My work will be included in The Queen’s Museum 2026 gala auction in partnership with Sotheby’s.
The auction will take place on May 18th - you can participate by registering on the Queens Museum Website. (Link in bio) @queensmuseum
My work will be included with other talented artists for this annual auction gala in support of the sustainability of the Queens Museum and Suna Children’s Museum.
The work I’ve included is from my 2024 debut museum exhibit @desmoinesartcenter titled “In Loving Memory”.
The work titled “from negative to positive” draws inspiration from Kerry James Marshall in conversation of palette, color theory, light play and how Black Americans are seen or not seen.
Drawing from this conversation with work is the theory of traditional art practices and the lack of the color ‘black’. Using a palette of only black color values, defying the “rules” of using black paint palette; this work pulls the viewer in close which is a foreign experience for many people in the Black community. It’s interesting to me how the color black can be inviting in a museum but off putting or intimidating in the world.
I’m honored to have my work included. Thank you to my friends, collectors and patrons who include my work in conversations and opportunities. 🙏🏽🤲🏽
Please visit the @queensmuseum for more information or visit the link in my bio. ⬆️
From Negative to Positive
c. 2022
27x31x1 Framed by @framedbyria (custom frame)
16x20 Unframed
Acrylic // Convex Oval Canvas
@sothebys
#bybmoore #queensmuseum #sothebys #artauction
Crazy life! Art talk recap.
Recently was invited to talk at both the @uistanleymuseum last week and this week @desmoinesgolf
What’s crazy is I spent 7 years living in Iowa city. Didn’t go to class hardly, ended up dropping out. Never stepped foot in the university of Iowa. But today, 20 years later. I did as an artist, as a guest speaker and as someone in their collection.
It was dope being able to share the stage with @khalik_allah - it was like I was meeting myself. Thank you brother for sharing your mind, heart and space with us.
This week I was also invited to speak to a group at a private golf club here in my hometown. Des Moines Golf & Country Club.
It’s crazy what rooms art will put you in. How you show up and how you represent authentically matters the most. Cuz if ima go in space I’ve never been familiar with I want to make it familiar or comfortable.
Thanks for allowing me to do that, cuz that’s all I know.
I also see these experiences as ways to invite or encourage my community and people like me to find ourselves in rooms you’re not experienced or familiar with. At very least, someone will learn something new and it might change them forever. Maybe YOU.
Legacy is all that matters when you don’t got no more time or breath….. hope you building something worth remembering or creating memories others will remember after you’re gone.
b.
🥀🙏🏽
Honored to have recently toured the @uistanleymuseum to view the exhibits and permanent collection currently open to the public. To see my works in conversation with some of the greatest Black Artists in history is surreal. I’m extremely humbled and grateful to be included.
Thank you to all the staff, curators and artists and also to the @desmoinesartcenter for loaning out my work to be in conversation next to Grant Wood. Being an Iowa native, the contrast and conversations relative to some of these other artists affirms the work I do.
Love to my family for always rocking with me and supporting me.
Upward motion always. 🌱🛫
Some of the artists on current exhibition are:
Alma Thomas
Sam Gilliam
Elizabeth Catlett
Simone Yvette Leigh
Rashid Johnson
Carrie Mae Weems
Toyin Ojih Odutola
Martin Puryear
b. Robert Moore
Grant Wood
Jackson Polluck
Patrick Quarm
Mitchell Squire
And many more!
The exhibit is open to the public thru June 26th @uistanleymuseum
New museum exhibit now open to public!
@uistanleymuseum
“Flex: Masculinities in the Arts of Global Africa” and is now on view at the Stanley Museum of Art.
Three-Fifths A Man (blue collar, white collar, slave collar)
c. 2025
#bybmoore
Moore’s three-part installation cites the Three-Fifths Compromise, a 1787 US Constitutional agreement that designated enslaved people as three-fifths of a person and further enshrined their chief status as laborers. Moore presents this history alongside totems representing the historical movement of Black labor toward dignity and self-determination, whether white collar or blue collar. Moore invites viewers to engage in close inspection and to witness apparent blemishes: the sweat stains in the white collar from his late father’s dress shirt and the paint stains on the linen featuring a mechanic.
Through these seeming imperfections,
Moore reminds viewers of the toil that persists within Black work, self-determined or otherwise.
//
Stop by to experience this dynamic exhibition in person that explores masculinity as a “flexible practice” and a creative expression.
On view February 28, 2026 - July 26, 2026.
Free and open to all.
Curated by Cory Gundlach and Derek K Nnuro @dk_nnuro
Honored to be among some talented creatives. This is my first group museum exhibit. Thank you God and my ancestors. 🙏🏽🤲🏽
A Masters Master® (cropped)
c. 2025
“If you want to be a Master in life you must submit to a Master”
- Jay Electronica
(This original is available. Please send email or DM to inquire)
//
More background on this work and this series:
For the first 48 years of the Masters®, until 1983 (the year I was born), golfers had to employ the services of the club’s caddies rather than their own. This group of caddies, known as the Augusta National Caddie Corps, was composed of entirely Black individuals.
“As long as I’m alive, all the golfers will be white and all the caddies will be black,” Clifford Roberts notoriously said. (Former chairman of Augusta National)
This tradition was rooted in racism. The Black man serving the white man has been a staple of white supremacist ideals for centuries. However, amidst this troubling backdrop, there are narratives of fascinating characters with remarkable achievements.
(Ref. Sam Weitzman-Keller)
These caddies, all Black men, were local to the Augusta (Sand Hills) area and had become experts of this challenging course. Although used as props and tools, they were invaluable tools and unsung heroes to many Augusta National Masters® victories and green jackets.
The countless times I’ve played golf and have felt uncomfortable on the course brings me to this same sentiment.
They may let us in the house but it won’t feel like home until we make it home.
“Jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one”…..
Pictured in this work is my favorite Augusta caddie of all time. The smooth, playa and Master of the course, Carl Howard. (1975)
A Masters Master®
c. 2025
#bybmoore
(acrylic, charcoal, 24k gold leaf, coffee wash // canvas)
• 48”x 48” * (available. Please email or DM 🙏🏽🙏🏽)
#golf #masters #augustanational #themasters #caddie #art #artcollector #fineart
“𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆. 𝑰𝒇 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌, 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔. 𝑰𝒇 𝒏𝒐𝒕, 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆.”
//
If you only knew how many L’s I had to take to get a few W’s…
Turned another year older last week 🎂 and feelin’ wiser cuz I feel younger than ever.
This year felt like walking away from a canvas. Like taking a break out of frustration. I needed to come back to it with a fresh set of eyes. The perspective and wisdom gained from taking a break helped me appreciate so many things in life.
Life truly imitates art…..
When you work for it and got good intentions, you get everything you deserve. Trust that.
Museum exhibit loading…… Feb 2026. @uistanleymuseum
See yall soon cuz I’m finna be outside 2026. ✍🏽✌🏽
#bybmoore #independentartist #fineart #museumexhibition
A Masters Master®
c. 2025 #wip
“If you want to be a Master in life you must submit to a Master”
- Jay Electronica
//
(More background on this work and this series)
For the first 48 years of the Masters®, until 1983 (the year I was born), golfers had to employ the services of the club’s caddies rather than their own. This group of caddies, known as the Augusta National Caddie Corps, was composed of entirely Black individuals.
“As long as I’m alive, all the golfers will be white and all the caddies will be black,” Clifford Roberts notoriously said. (Former chairman of Augusta National)
This tradition was rooted in racism. The Black man serving the white man has been a staple of white supremacist ideals for centuries. However, amidst this troubling backdrop, there are narratives of fascinating characters with remarkable achievements.
(Ref. Sam Weitzman-Keller)
These caddies, all Black men, were local to the Augusta (Sand Hills) area and had become experts of this challenging course. Although used as props and tools, they were invaluable tools and unsung heroes to many Augusta National Masters® victories and green jackets.
The countless times I’ve played golf and have felt uncomfortable on the course brings me to this same sentiment.
They may let us in the house but it won’t feel like home until we make it home.
“Jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one”…..
Pictured in this work is my favorite Augusta caddie of all time. The smooth, playa and Master of the course, Carl Howard. (1975)
A Masters Master®
c. 2025
#bybmoore
(acrylic, charcoal, coffee wash // canvas)
• 48”x 48” *on hold (still a work in progress)
#golf #masters #augustanational #themasters #caddie #art #artcollector #fineart
Gang Related - II
(Out the mud series)
c. 2025
#WIP
It’s easier to get out the mud with a partner or brother. When you come from the mud it’s instinctual to know how to fight out the mud; sometimes it’s hard to understand who you’re fighting and fighting for although survival and freedom the goal. If we share the same goal why do fight amongst ourselves? Rhetorical.
Being a father of two amateur boxers, hits different for this work. Thinking about battles, war and ultimately peace. The unity that comes after turmoil. The sun after the storm. The way my boys have gone into the boxing ring and fought and then after became friends with their opponent or op…..
The Pan African Flag was originally created by Marcus Garvey to serve as a unifying symbol for people of African descent. I’ve often pondered the idea of where our native land is when African Americans both take pride in Africa and at times America heritage. Whereas David Hammons reimagined the Pan African Flag into the African American flag to represent both pride in Black heritage and ongoing struggle for freedom and equality.
These two flags represent unity, struggle and an idea of freedom. So we must unite to fight together; not against each other.
Survival in most cultures is heavily dependent on communities who unite. Many times we’ve fought battles alone but It’s easier to get out the mud with a partner or brother and fight together not against one another…..
Family, we all tryna be free…..
❤️💚🖤
❤️🤍💙
Gang Related - II
(Out the mud series)
c. 2025
40” x 30”
Ethiopian coffee, saw dust ++ / acrylic // canvas
#bybmoore
#outthemud #fineart #boxer #boxing
