Thelonious Stokes and the Rise of the Florence Black Academy of Arts

Banned From TV by N.O.R.E. blasts full volume as the scent of dried paint, easel wood, and linen drifts around the bone-white room, sunlight streaming through the glass ceiling and bouncing off the glossy black tile floor. A smear of crimson comes alive on canvas as Thelonious Stokes, 30, paints a drop of blood rolling down his subject’s cheek from a crown of thorns, almost resembling a tear.

Some people have commented that his art is “too harsh”; “too violent”. Stokes is surprised to hear such commentary, though. “I was just painting Christ,” he says.

His paintings, which range from about 115 cm x 90 cm to as big as 270 cm x 200 cm, are all done in oil, are auctioned off for prices around €36,000, and can take anywhere from three days to three months to complete, are partially influenced by his upbringing in the United States. Having been around an area that is “considered violent” in his early years, Stokes says he is “desensitized” to violence, and does not shy away from depicting Biblical narratives that contain it. Most importantly, however, Stokes calls his art “black washed”, and says that through his art, he is “reclaiming the image of Christ”.

Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Stokes first wanted to be a fashion designer. While exploring his creativity, however, he discovered painting, and committed to it ever since, making art every day since he was just sixteen years old. He found that “painting helped express a lot” that he could not express otherwise. At twenty-two, he came to Italy to continue his journey at the Florence Academy of Art. Now, after fifteen years of experience in academic painting, despite facing “racism as an academic painter in Europe” and “people not believing in [him]”, he is starting his very own art school: the Florence Black Academy of Arts.

“The community proud. Ancestors proud,” says Joel Houston, 21, a student of Stokes.

Stokes does not do only oil painting, however. His designs, including a long-sleeved white dress with a corset top and long sheer fabric draping over a hoopskirt, adorn his studio downtown. He has also indulged in performance art during the COVID-19 pandemic with a friend that he was quarantining with so as to pass the time. “All day was performance art,” he says.

Ultimately, though, oil painting is Stokes’ main focus. His work was always “rooted in realism”, but his past work was more “surreal” compared to his present style, becoming “more forward” after art school, which “changed his perspective” and “enhanced his technique”. During his time there, he was one of the “first people to really introduce black subjects in the city”. He continues to portray black subjects and culture in his works to this day. To achieve his rich, Earthy hues, he prefers “direct painting” rather than doing underpaintings, instead adding more value monochromatically by first painting a shaded sketch “with only raw umber”. Stokes says he “learned this technique from the Spanish” upon going to his favorite artist’s workshop in Spain. While in Spain, he observed art, including that of Pablo Picasso, and noticed the use of the technique that he proceeded to adopt in his work. The motifs he incorporates include the American flag, the crucifix, and “a lot of self portraits”.

Now, after years as a student learning in school to years as an independent artist featured in galleries and exhibits, Stokes prepares to teach his first school year at his academy in the Fall of 2025, welcoming a new chapter.

This article was produced as part of a journalism collaboration with Georgetown University’s study abroad program in Florence.