The first monograph by the New Black Vanguard’s Arielle Bobb-Willis is a vivid statement about color, gesture, and style.

Keep the Kid Alive, Arielle Bobb-Willis’s first book, invites audiences into a brightly imaginative world, filled with dynamic colors, gestures, and unusual poses of the artist’s own creation. Transforming the streets of New Orleans, New York, and Los Angeles into lush backdrops for her wonderfully surreal tableaus, Bobb-Willis makes unforgettable images that expand the genres of fashion and art photography. “I love the idea of seeing Black people represented in an abstract way,” Bobb-Willis says. “It’s important to me to continue to reject the notion that Black expression is limited—or limiting.” With a conversation between Bobb-Willis and a dynamic range of artists, stylists, and creatives who speak about keeping their “inner kid” alive, this book captures a definitive young artist’s unconventional worldbuilding. 

Text by: Tiana Reid
Interviewer(s): Nicole Acheampong
Contributions by: Micaiah Carter, Esther Faciane, Phyllis Galembo, Kezia Harrell, Howardena Pindell, Alex Webb, Aweng Chuol, Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, Leonardo Scotti, Isabella Lalonde, Synchrodogs, Tschabalala Self, Hannah Traore, Spencer Tunick
Designed by: Rush Jackson