Phaidon has released a new book that opens the studio doors of twenty of the most prominent Black artists working today. Another View: The Vibrant World of Contemporary Black Artists pairs 150 previously unpublished photographs by Awol Erizku with interviews and profiles, offering a close look at how these artists live with their work. The book ships on 19 November 2026.

Erizku, a conceptual artist based in Los Angeles, began the project in early 2021 and travelled to studios across the United States. His subjects include Nina Chanel Abney, Derrick Adams, Sanford Biggers, Jordan Casteel, Nick Cave, Theaster Gates, Rashid Johnson, Titus Kaphar, Glenn Ligon, Kerry James Marshall, Lorna Simpson, Carrie Mae Weems and Fred Wilson, among others. Curator Isolde Brielmaier conducted the interviews behind the profiles, and scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. contributed an introduction placing the current moment in its historical context.

In a conversation published by Phaidon on 4 November, Erizku described his aim as capturing the inner character of each artist and the ideas linking them, rather than producing formal portraits. He said he approached every session as a collaboration, hoping to record the quiet stretches when concentrated work is actually happening, and he treated the shoot like a film, working from a shot list that ranged from wide views of a studio to tight details.

The photographer also recalled moments that stayed with him, including photographing Carrie Mae Weems at home in Brooklyn shortly after she had finished a fashion campaign, and reuniting with Lorna Simpson, who mentored him when he was a student at Cooper Union. Erizku said each visit left him with a lesson, whether about how an artist organises a workspace or how they think about legacy. Actress Angela Bassett has described the book as a vital record of the present and a testament to the legacies still being created.