This past weekend, SecretBase218 hosted their first group exhibition, No Code Switchin’, closing out Black History Month with a bang. Strategically curated by Matthew Loyd and Jayquel Williams, the exhibition featured 13 extraordinary black artists from different creative disciplines. The opening reception and gallery put raw black expression at the forefront. The energy was high and the vibes were on point. SecretBase218 was able to foster a sense of community and admiration for the arts, with many attendees finding their new favorite artist, or next creative colleague. 

Learn about each of these remarkable young black artists below:

Rex Prempeh

Born in the Bronx to Ghanaian immigrant parents, Rex has always had a creative outlook on life, even though when growing up there wasn’t much for him to attach to besides negativity. By 10 years old the addiction for music kicked in along with his introduction to the internet. Being on the internet is what opened his eyes to different things at a young age that made him feel comfortable enough to create. These obsessions in specific niches like hypebeast/streetwear culture, underground hiphop, skateboarding, and more, are what helped form and shape the artist he is now. Today Rex owns his own clothing brand called KNWHERE which he designs and does creative direction for. 

“Black creators have a spot in this world that only we can fill, we help push a new aesthetic for the world along with telling stories of the moment.” (@bruce.flee)

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Serena Castillo

Serena Castillo (@rethehost) is an author of the poetry collection, Drugs of Love and Sex (2020) and short story series, Unknown (2022). As an alumni of CUNY Medgar Evers College (2021), Serena thrives on helping to create a platform and space to continuously help creatives have a place to share their work, along with resources to help them get their foot in the door to many opportunities. Serena’s specialties are creative writing, media production, and building community. She loves bringing people together with the use of arts and conversation.

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Grace Brown

Grace Brown (@agirlsjuice) is an African-American photographer. Born and Raised in New Jersey, within less than a year of photography experience she took it upon herself to accelerate her knowledge and skills in the craft to support local New York African brands & groups. In support of African communities, brands, and events she became the Media Producer for ASAMBENYC & Shades. Her work celebrates the beauty of her roots and heritage. Through her work she is finding ways to connect back to her forefathers and ancestors. Brown prides herself in finding ways to beautifully capture unique features, skin tones, and colors. As Media Producer for ASAMBENYC, Grace captures unforgettable moments shared between the music community of South Africa. Her portraits ensure that the musical talents and the communities they represent are being exposed across the world! Her photos are amplifying African stories, cultures, styles, and expressions in America. Her photography ensures that Africa is seen, heard, and remembered! 

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Dee-Ranged

I'm Dee-Ranged (@dee_ranged_)and I'm the founder of the multi-media talent agency, PRYZM. My personal talent ranges anywhere from production, to instrumentation, to Dj-ing, to music curation. Our company, PRYZM, is rooted in artist development & talent showcases via world-building and community events. Being based in Tokyo and Brooklyn gives us greater reach and more authenticity to engage artists of all mediums. Check us out on IG @pryz.m!

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Michael McKenzie

I’m an artist born in Queens, and grew up in Long Island. Traditionally trained in the arts, acrylic paints are my main focus. I am also trained in digital art, creating illustration and animations. Creating something visually interesting with my hands is why I create. (@_jinsu__)

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Kafia

My name is Kafia Johnson (@eastknives) and I’m a multidisciplinary artist from the south. I’m a writer, singer, producer and visual curator. I’ve been working at my craft since high-school. I love to incorporate themes of my culture into my music.

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Julian Adon Alexander

Julian Adon Alexander (b. 1998, New York, NY @snakebone_) is a Queens-based illustrator that seeks to tell relatable stories of the many ways human emotion can manifest itself in the physical world. Alexander creates visual metaphors using imagery from various forms of his favorite media and observations of everyday things and people that one might walk by without paying attention to. Alexander has received a BFA in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts, and has illustrated for numerous clients such as The New Yorker, NBA G League, and Nike. Alexander has also exhibited in numerous venues such as The School of Visual Arts (2020), Swivel Gallery (2021, 2022), and Ross + Kramer (2021).

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Jayquel Michael Williams

Hey my name is Jayquel and I am a photographer and director. I enjoy learning about cultures and participating in subcultures as well. Through my work I translate or display those cultural narratives for the world to experience. (@jayquelmichael)

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Iamani Julien

I’m a creative from Brooklyn and Queens with a passion for bringing ideas to life—especially through fashion. My goal with this piece is to bring people together and spark conversation, whether it’s about the music, the legacy, or the unexpected twist of Kanye being Caucasian. (@ivmvni)

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Kerianne Edwards

I’m a 25-year-old artist from Jamaica, Queens, and I started collaging in 2019 as a way to express what is unspoken and what is yet to come. For me, collaging is both a reflective and intuitive process—layering thoughts, emotions, and visions of possibility in a way that words sometimes cannot. The piece I’m submitting is ‘The Ritual – Breaking Open, Pouring Forth’. It represents the necessity of filling oneself before pouring into others, the way growth emerges through cracks, how water carves through stone allowing us to flow forward, and the power of rituals in shaping both where we are and where we are going. (@being.kerianne)

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Jerrod White

Jerrod White (b. 1994, @darkgrapes) is a self-taught visual artist working primarily in photography, videography, illustration, painting, and graphic design. He is currently based out of Uptown Manhattan; previously in Brooklyn and Long Island, NY. White completed his undergraduate degree in Psychology and Sociology at Stony Brook University in 2017. A self-taught artist from childhood, White was able to expand the scope of his work in school by studying the intersections of human behavior and technology. His work has been exhibited at the International Center of Photography and featured in several publications, the latest being the first edition of the No Bells zine (2024).

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Joseann Tejeda

Joseann Tejeda (@joseanntejeda) is a Dominican-born filmmaker raised in Boston. Growing up, Joseann was exposed to many different types of cultures and ethnicities along with the fusions that exist in-between. Such marriages and juxtapositions have always interested Joseann, drawing him to works such as Rush Hour (1998), Samurai Champloo (2004) and genres such as Jazz Fusion and Habibi Funk. With colorful aesthetic blends as a backdrop, Joseann’s current work uses Edouard Glissant’s poetics of relation as a vessel to explore themes of masculinity and the price of refusing love. 

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Matthew Loyd

Matthew Loyd (@matthias.gif) is a Queens based illustrator and graphic designer, specializing in oil pastel and print design. Much of his body of work is inspired by things that have grabbed his interest in childhood and through to adulthood; comics, anime, graffiti, books and nature inform much of the visual identity of the pieces and designs he creates. Oil pastel illustrations have been a large part of Loyd’s recent fine art practice, with many of his pieces exploring themes of emotion, black self identity, New York City, and religion & mythology. His passion for art, culture, and design led him to start 20XX Magazine (est. 2019), a publication championing the art and culture of New York City and its rising creative community, with the goal of providing a platform for local artists and businesses. 

“I create because creative expression is how I move through life. In a creative sense, I don’t think I have any expressly noble values other than feeling like art and the creative spirit are to be respected and appreciated in society. I like cool stuff, and I want to contribute cool stuff to the world too.”