Statement & Biography

“I tell the stories of individuals outside the mainstream of their society. I find these stories via one on conversations, studying oral and written history, and absorbing the world around me via intuition."

- Courtney Minor, interdisciplinary artist


"Daughters of Calm Disssension" from New Humans series by Courtney M. Minor

 

“I once thought I would be an anthropologist as I love studying humanity in all its failures & glory. I once thought I would be an archaeologist, digging up the past from the earth to understand the present. I once thought I would be an architect because I love to imagine worlds and structures. I AM A CREATIVE. A mixed media artist, designer, engineer, researcher, mentor, photographer, builder, entrepreneur, woman, activist, ethnographer, assembler… human being. Put simply, I am all of these and much more. These disparate identities come together to form me as an interdisciplinary artist.  

The stories I tell come to life in varied forms & colors. Sometimes it is the living history, places, historical figures documented via my script. Other times it is the figurative form of the individual where their physical presence is an act of protest and them existing is a history lesson. Stories translated through colors, tears, eyes, emotions, mental health and physical manifestations brought forth via my imagination. I build the stories bit by bit, piece by piece whether that piece is paper, found object, paint stroke, or digitally created. I create these stories from multitudes and many pieces combining to make a whole. Stories too big to be confined to one style therefore I create multiple styles simultaneously to tell the story. Their stories, my story, cannot be confined to one style and I am here to manifest it.” 


Biography

Courtney M. Minor is an Interdisciplinary artist based in Jersey City, NJ, USA focused on telling the stories of those who feel Other’d by society. Minor’s style features heavy use of color, maximalism, pattern, assemblage, and emotion conveyed by the rawness of her application process. She seeks to tell the stories of those rarely heard by mainstream society including her own. Minor was named a 2024 New Jersey Council on the Arts Fellow and 2023 Top 15 Black American Assemblage & Collage Artist by Saatchi Art. Courtney Minor’s work is held in private and public collections both domestic & internationally. Her work has been featured in museum solo & group exhibitions domestically. Her work can be viewed and purchased on her website, thecmdstudio.com and her social media at @heyitscourtneyminor on Instagram & TikTok.

 

Areas of Focus:

  • Mixed Media
  • Collage
  • Assemblage
  • Digital Photography
  • Typography
  • Public/Outdoor
  • Textile/Silk Sublimation 
  • Historical Imagery & Artifacts

 

Stylistic Elements: 

  • Heavy use of Color
  • Maximalism
  • Archiving 
  • Pattern
  • Emotion
  • Raw

Education

Self taught artist. Studied under Ulysses Grant


Selected Exhibitions

  • 2025 “Doors into My Life” Solo Exhibition, Southampton African American Museum, Southampton, NY, USA
  • 2024 Newark Arts Group Exhibition, Newark Museum of Art, Newark, NJ, USA
  • 2024 “Hidden in Plain Sight” Solo Exhibition, Kente Royal Gallery, Harlem, NYC, USA
  • See Artist's CV tab of this website

Residencies

  • 2025 Steepletop Artist in Residence, Millay Arts Foundation, Austerlitz, NY, USA
  • 2024 Chateau d'Orqueveaux Artist in Residence, Orqueveaux, France
  • 2023 ArtCrawl Harlem Artist in Residence, Governor's Island, NYC, USA
  • 2023 Arquetopia Artist in Residence, Puebla, Mexico
  • 2024 Skopelos Foundation for the Arts, Artist in Residence
  • "Metamorphosis Redacted" on Loan & Artist in Residence, Red Rooster Harlem

Awards

  • 2024 Individual Artist Fellowship and Grantee by Mid Atlantic Arts/New Jersey State Council on the Arts 
  • 2024 Artist to Watch by The Culture Candy and Up Magazine
  • TOP 10 BLACK AMERICAN ARTISTS TO WATCH IN 2023 BY SINGULART GALLERY
  • TOP 15 BLACK AMERICAN ASSEMBLAGE & COLLAGE ARTISTS BY SAATCHI ART
  • Winner - Director's Pick, 2021 The Other Art Fair Brooklyn

Notable Collections

  • “New Humans”, Galerie Diderot, Chateau Orquevaux, Orquevaux, France
  • "Black Future is All of Us", Gap Inc HQ Collection
  • Private Collections, Houston, TX, USA
  • Private Collections, Berlin, Germany
  • Private Collections, Manhattan & Brooklyn, NY, USA
  • Private Collection, Washington, DC, USA
  • Private Collection, Albuquerque, NM, USA
  • Private Collection, San Francisco, CA, USA
  • Private Collection, Seattle, WA, USA
  • Private Collection, Miami, FL, USA
  • Private Collection, Palisades, New Jersey, USA
  • Private Collection, Fayetteville, AR, USA
  • Private Collection, Des Moines, IA, USA
  • Private Collection, Los Angeles, CA, USA

 

Press 

  • Click here to see latest press