Born and based in Brooklyn, NY, visual artist Jayden Ashley (b. 2002) explores the vacuum between Black experiences and external perceptions of Blackness. His current work examines the ongoing erasure of Black life and the displacement of Black residents. Grounded in his use of cement, Ashley references sectors from the Home Owners' Loan Corporation’s (HOLC) Residential Security Maps, where the color red was used to mark neighborhoods as “hazardous.” Areas once bordered to designate Black presence as undesirable are now aggressively targeted for urban development and gentrification. Through his cement compositions, Ashley reflects on how borders, geography, and material transformation perpetuate systemic violence against Black communities—from neglect to displacement.

 

Ashley has been an artist-in-residence at multiple programs in the United States and abroad, including NARS Foundation in Brooklyn, NY (2025), Wassaic Project in Wassaic, NY (2025), Foundation House in Greenwich, CT (2024), and Casa Belgrado in Buenos Aires, Argentina (2023). Notable group exhibitions include Region of Intensities, Frisson Gallery, New York, NY (2025), When Lullabies Become Walls, Deposit(o), Brooklyn, NY (2025), It would hurt us – were we awake – at NARS Foundation, Brooklyn, NY (2025), Threaded Visions at BWAC Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (2025), and Crossing Points at Galeria Azur, New York, NY (2024). Ashley is also a recipient of the NARS Foundation Residency Fellowship and the Colin Chase Fellowship Fund from the Vermont Studio Center.