Mark Bradford didn’t walk straight from school into an art career. He spent years in his mother’s hair salon in Leimert Park, a neighborhood in South Los Angeles with a rich history in Black art and culture. He enrolled in formal arts education at age 31.
That backstory matters, friends. It shaped everything about what Bradford makes and why he makes it.
His most ambitious work yet is now on display inside the Museum at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. It’s a monumental painting covering the entire three-story west wall of the Our Story Atrium.
The Obama Foundation released a studio visit with Bradford this week. In the video, Bradford explains the process behind creating a monumental work at this scale.
Bradford doesn’t work with traditional canvas and paint. He builds from ordinary materials – hairdressing end papers, found signage pulled from streets, and construction materials.
These aren’t arbitrary choices. They’re a way of centering communities that formal art institutions have long overlooked.
The hairdressing papers are particularly personal. Bradford handled them in his mother’s shop growing up.
They’re thin tissue sheets used in hair salons – not the kind of thing that usually ends up in a museum. Bradford makes sure they do.
That’s the core of his work. He takes the materials and textures of everyday life in overlooked neighborhoods and brings them somewhere they’re not expected.
His work now appears in major museums and collections around the world. The materials still trace back to Leimert Park. Bradford became one of the most recognized names in contemporary art without leaving those origins behind.
Here’s the part that matters most for real people. Bradford’s painting sits in a section of the museum that is completely free and open to the public.
No ticket. No reservation. The campus brings together art, athletics, green spaces, and civics programming – and the door is open to everyone.
That three-story scale is genuinely hard to picture. The west wall of the Our Story Atrium runs the full height of three floors. Bradford’s painting covers it completely.
The Obama Foundation called Bradford one of the most prominent voices in contemporary art today. That’s accurate. His work shows up in institutions around the world.
But the Presidential Center installation carries a different kind of weight. It’s permanent and it’s public – free to anyone who wants to come see it in person.
Bradford didn’t come up through the expected pipeline. He came through a hair salon in South Los Angeles. He started his formal education later than most.
He’s spent his career making sure overlooked people and places end up somewhere they can be seen. The three-story wall at the Obama Presidential Center is the biggest version of that work yet.
For upcoming talks and programming at the campus, the Obama Foundation’s website at obama.org/whats-on has details and registration options.