B. Schuman

In her decade-spanning career, B. Schuman’s works have explored multiculturalism, street art, Hip-Hop and her continuous fight against injustice using different mediums and materials. Self-taught, Schuman began painting after a four month spiritual hiatus exploring the “West” with just a camera and backpack. In her early works, she created blended abstractions using acrylic paints combined with collaged imagery from magazines and newspapers as the base. She eventually found her voice through the use of the neo-expressionist painting style. In these works you will find musical lyrics, poetry, drawings and abstract imagery blended together on one unique canvas filled with hidden more esoteric meanings. One of her earlier pieces “Red is the New Black”, Schuman expressed her disdain for consumerism and the “just because it’s on sale doesn’t mean you got a deal” ideology. This painting has been compared to the early works of Franz Kline. It was also displayed on MTV’s “Real World”, Season 30. Schuman began to explore other painting styles late in 2013. She began working with watercolors under the alias “Nicole Peers” and through this exploration she created an intimate card stock series of mini paintings. Schuman experimentation did not stop there. After a late night conversation with a business mentor about staying true to one’s self, but still wanting to create commercial works, the persona “R8KE” as in “raking in the dollars” was birthed. This new identity allowed her to spawn the “Iconic 8” canvas portraits; celebrity greats that she deemed worthy of iconic portraiture. This list included Muhammed Ali, Princess Diana, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Bobby Marley, Tupac, Biggie Smalls and Kanye West. It is her belief that the iconic neo-expressionist artist, Jean Michel Basquiat has been her greatest influence on her work. It is not only because he birthed the neo-expressionist movement, but because he gave her permission to express on canvas without boundaries……….