Changing Black Voices Curated by Destinee Ross-Sutton
This April, curator and gallerist Destinee Ross-Sutton will present a special exhibition at the 20th anniversary of Market Art Fair in Stockholm, marking six years since her groundbreaking exhibition “Black Voices/Black Microcosm.” The presentation coincides with a concurrent show at her new Stockholm gallery, revisiting the ideas that helped shift global attention toward contemporary Black art.
Ross-Sutton first emerged as a leading voice during the 2020–21 season after curating three influential exhibitions: “Black Voices/Black Microcosm” at CFHILL in Stockholm (8 April–9 May 2020), the only physical exhibition to open as the world shut down due to Covid-19; “Black Voices: Friend of My Mind,” her inaugural gallery exhibition in New York; and the widely discussed “Say it Loud” series at Christie’s New York.
The Stockholm exhibition closed just 13 days before the killing of George Floyd sparked the global Black Lives Matter movement. Arriving at a pivotal moment when interest in contemporary art from the African diaspora was accelerating, these exhibitions helped expand the artistic canon and the art world’s commitment to artists of color. Since then, Ross-Sutton—splitting her time between New York and Stockholm—has continued to curate and advise independently.
“Honestly, I personally do not like too much attention,” she says when we meet for her third interview with Odalisque. “I prefer the work to speak for itself.”
Often described as a visionary curator and tastemaker, Ross-Sutton has built a reputation for championing emerging artists—particularly young and underrepresented artists of color and female artists—often giving them their first gallery exhibition or international debut, something that most commercial galleries deem to “risky” financially. She is also an advocate for artists’ rights, implementing resale restrictions in her sales agreements since 2021 to help support a more sustainable secondary market.
Her curatorial work spans major international platforms. She internationally debuted Khari Turner during the 59th Venice Biennale and co-curated “4000+ Years of African Art” at the Wall House Museum on St. Barths. Artists including Kehinde Wiley, Amoako Boafo, Tim Okamura and new stars like Vanessa Raw, have cited her as a muse, inspired by her dedication to reshaping the art world.
“EARL”. Deborah Roberts. Image courtesy of the artist.
Through her foundation, Black Artist Collective, Ross-Sutton supports emerging African artists, LGBTQ+ artists, and women artists. Her 2024 Venice Biennale exhibition “Unapologetic WomXn: The Dream is the Truth” brought together thirty-four artists aged 25 to 89 exploring female sexuality and identity through the female gaze. The project grew out of conversations she began in 2021 with her husband about the complexity of womanhood—shaped by culture, race, economics, politics, and social expectations.
Continuing to prioritize international female and underrepresented voices, Ross-Sutton remains committed to a globally engaged program.
On her opening her first gallery outside New York, Market Art Fair Director and CEO Sara Berner Bengtsson says, “I think you will contribute so much to the Stockholm art scene.”
We meet the 30-year-old curator on her way back to New York after the Cape Town Art Fair, making a brief stop in Stockholm for the opening of “Listening to Light” with Iranian painter Rey Hosseini. Born in Tehran, Hosseini describes the portraits as reflections of self-examination. Created in the aftermath of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, the exhibition resonates with ongoing struggles for women’s rights in Iran.
Ross-Sutton’s Stockholm gallery opened in 2025 with “A New Beginning,” featuring Somali painter Najaax Harun and Sudanese-Somali ceramicist Dina Nur Satti—artists connected to regions long shaped by political unrest.
Alongside curating and collecting internationally, she advises institutions and collectors on acquisitions, particularly contemporary African and African American art, but not limited to. Artists remain central to her approach.
“I’m pretty much the complete opposite of 95% of the individuals at these art fairs,” she says with a laugh, with her colorful braids and being a young Black female. Born in Harlem in 1995, Ross-Sutton closed her first six-figure deal at Art Basel Miami Beach at age 23, placing works by Yinka Shonibare and Deborah Roberts with a foundation. Growing up in Harlem in the 1990s and early 2000s shaped her worldview. She left journalism studies in 2016, disillusioned with sensationalist media and convinced that curating exhibitions could have a deeper cultural impact.
Her return to Stockholm was symbolic, marking five years since “Black Voices/Black Microcosm,” which brought together 31 artists from the African diaspora and introduced Scandinavian audiences to voices such as Amoako Boafo alongside artists who had never exhibited internationally.
photography Jheyda McGarrell
“Suspended Lotus”. Dina Nur Satti. Image courtesy of the artist.
August 5th, 2023 (In Memoriam)”.Jordan Zayas Kelly.Image courtesy of the artist.
Naomi Osaka and The Divine Mother”. Vanessa German. Image courtesy of the artist.
The project was followed by “Say it Loud: I’m Black and I’m Proud” at Christie’s in summer 2020, amid global protests against racism and police brutality, and later by “Black Voices – Friend of My Mind” her inaugural show at her New York gallery—then the largest exhibition dedicated to contemporary Black art in the United States.In total, fifteen artists—twelve female and three male—are included, with smaller works presented at the fair and larger pieces shown at the gallery.
Joshua Adokuru (Nigeria) – Rita Mawuena Benissan (Ghana) – Amoako Boafo (Ghana) – Phoebe Boswell (Kenya/UK) – Cydne Coleby (Bahamas) – vanessa german (US) – Najaax Harun (Somaliland) – Rugiyatou Ylva Jallow (Gambia/Sweden) – Jordan Zayas Kelly (US/UK) – Turiya Magadlela (South Africa) – Buqaqawuli Nobakada (South Africa) – Deborah Roberts (US) – Dina Nur Satti (Sudan/Somalia) – Larissa de Souza (Brazil) – Khari Turner (US).
“Artists reflect the times we live in,” Ross-Sutton says. “Otherwise, is it not simply decoration? Art should make you feel—it can provoke peace or shake you, asking you to confront your ideas.”
Yellow Nails”.Amoako Boafo.Image courtesy of the artist
Opening of “Listening to Light”. Destinee Ross-Sutton and Rey Hosseini. ROSS-SUTTON GALLERY, Artillerigatan 8, 114 51 Stockholm
