Rico Gatson is a multimedia visual artist whose work explores themes of history, identity, popular culture and spirituality, through sculpture, painting, video and public art.

Over the course of almost two decades, he has been celebrated for politically layered artworks, often based on significant moments in black history. From the Watts Riots, the formation of the Black Panthers, to the election of President Barack Obama are a few subjects touched upon in his work. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including exhibitions at Contemporary Art Museum at The University of South Florida, The Studio Museum in Harlem, NY; The Whitney Museum of American Art, NY; The Essl Museum, Austria, Vienna and The Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC. In 2019 he completed a commission for the MTA Arts and Design titled “Beacons”; eight permanent large scale mosaic portraits of prominent individuals associated with the Bronx, installed at the 167th street subway station on the Grand Concourse.

His work is featured in numerous private collections and the permanent collections of The Smithsonian American Art Museum, National Museum of African American History and Culture, The Studio Museum in Harlem, The Denver Art Museum, The Cheekwood Museum, The Kempner Museum and The Yale University Art Museum, amongst many others. Gatson is a faculty member at the School of Visual Arts and New York University and lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.