NEW YORK, NY.- Public Art Fund debut On the Flip Side, a new photography exhibition that reflects the personal perspectives of six photographers – Kennedi Carter, Lougè Delcy, Camila Falquez, Ruby Okoro, Dana Scruggs and Juan Veloz – who each move fluidly between commercial and fine art practices. Each artist has produced widely circulated images for major publications and brands, from Vogue to Louis Vuitton. Their commercial work often features striking celebrity portraits that harness widespread attention, while their fine art practices – seen in museums and galleries – reveal more intimate narratives, capturing loved ones and envisioning aspirational worlds. On the Flip Side presents one new work from each of the six artists on 300 JCDecaux bus shelters across New York City, Chicago, and Boston – transforming a platform typically used for advertising into an artistic encounter that offers tender and nuanced reflections on identity, place, and our collective future. The exhibition “flips” the expected encounter with these artists’ work in public space, shifting attention from their widely recognized commercial imagery to the personal narratives and creative visions that shape their artistic practices.

The six works feature both singular subjects and group portraits, each with varied styles and moods. Veloz’s tender portrait of his grandmother honors the matriarchs of his family, while Okoro’s colorful collage of dancers portrays fervent ambition as they reach toward a common goal. The works delve into themes of familial heritage, material value, gender identity, and ecology. The items worn and held in the photographs – from Delcy’s cowrie shells, to Falquez’s silk, or Carter’s black frizzle chicken – connect the subjects to African diasporic histories while portraying to viewers the interior lives of the sitters.

“Each of these artists create remarkable images that shape our contemporary moment. While their commercial work is widely recognized, attention often centers on the celebrities and products they photograph. This exhibition offers an opportunity to highlight another dimension of their practices on a highly visible platform – presenting striking images that invite reflection and deepen public engagement,” said Jenée-Daria Strand, Assistant Curator at Public Art Fund.

Featured Artists

Kennedi Carter

Kennedi Carter’s work highlights the aesthetics and sociopolitical aspects of Black life as well as the overlooked beauties of the Black experience: skin, texture, peace, love and community. Her work aims to reinvent notions of creativity and confidence in the realm of Blackness. Carter has worked with leading publications and global brands, including British Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Essence, Google, and Apple. In 2020, Carter was tapped by British Vogue Editor-in-Chief Edward Enninful to photograph Beyoncé for the magazine’s cover; she became the youngest cover photographer in the publication’s history. Her fine art has been acquired by the Rhode Island School of Design; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and Wilson Centre for Photography, London, among others.

Lougè Delcy

Lougè Delcy is a well-traveled artist who experiences life through a creative lens, documenting Africa and its diaspora in the most beautiful light. His work is a celebration of culture, resilience, and global connection. His imagery is instantly recognizable for its rich color, saturated tones, and sense of movement, shaped by his Haitian heritage and his upbringing in Brooklyn. Delcy has worked with National Geographic, Christian Louboutin, Bermuda, New Balance, and Ebony, among others. His fine art has been exhibited at the Anacostia Community Museum, Washington, D.C. and the International African American Museum, Charleston, South Carolina, among others.

Camila Falquez

Camila Falquez is a Colombian artist who was born in Mexico City and grew up in Spain. Her photographs harness the traditions of fashion and portrait photography and honor the contemporary spectrum of social and gender diversity. Channeling the conventions of Surrealism with a strong color palette, Falquez elevates and empowers her subjects. Falquez’s photographs are in the permanent collections of The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Dean Collection; The Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey; and the Perez Art Museum in Miami, Florida.

Ruby Okoro

Ruby Okoro is a self-taught Nigerian artist who expresses his thoughts and subconscious through conceptual and vibrant photographic images. Exploring themes of self-expression, identity, the human journey, and personal relationships, he views photography as a tool for storytelling. Okoro has captured images of the biggest music celebrities from the African continent, who are now known worldwide, including Asake, Ayra Starr, Wizkid, Adekunle Gold, and many others. Okoro’s work has been exhibited at Fotografiska Shanghai; PhotoVogue Festival; and Galerie Gomis, Paris, France among others. His work is featured in the 2022 publication In the Black Fantastic by Ekow Eshun.

Dana Scruggs

Dana Scruggs’ work focuses on movement, abstraction and evoking emotion from the bodily form. Her unique vision has been utilized by many brands and publications globally, including Rolling Stone, TIME, The New York Times, and Vanity Fair. Her fine art prints have been acquired by The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and The National Museum of African American History and Culture at The Smithsonian. Her work has toured globally with the exhibition The New Black Vanguard: Photography between Art and Fashion and Fotografiska.

Juan Veloz

Born in Brooklyn, Juan Veloz taught himself photography, first capturing his neighborhood and emerging models. His work, deeply rooted in his Latino heritage, blends honesty and cultural identity, earning him collaborations with Vogue, Dior, Netflix, and Nike. Veloz’s ability to capture people authentically reverberates through his images, having captured celebrities such as Sza, Usher, and Gabrielle Union, among many others.

On the Flip Side is curated by Public Art Fund Assistant Curator Jenée-Daria Strand.