JUNE EDMONDS

Early Years

Edmonds was born in Los Angeles in 1959 and grew up in the city’s Crenshaw district. Inspired by her mother, a teacher and amateur artist, Edmonds developed an early interest in art during visits to museum exhibitions. She earned her BA from San Diego State University and her MFA from Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia. Edmonds also attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. She continues to live and work in Los Angeles, where she is active as both an artist and educator.

June Edmonds Artworks

Edmonds’s contemporary art practice is defined by her use of colour, repetition, and impasto brushwork to create paintings that evoke spiritual contemplation, cultural memory, and the complexities of identity. Her artworks often reference African American history, the symbolism of flags, and lesser-known narratives of Black women and landowners in California.

From Figuration to Abstraction

Edmonds began her career with figurative paintings depicting scenes of Black domestic life, filled with vibrant textiles and expressive colour. By the 2000s, she shifted towards abstraction, developing a signature language of rhythmic, curvilinear forms and densely layered brushstrokes. Her ‘Energy Wheel Paintings’ and ‘Flag Paintings’ are notable for their thickly textured surfaces and symbolic use of colour.

Flag Paintings and Symbolic Motifs

June Edmonds’s Flag Paintings, begun in 2017, reimagine the American flag using vertical bands of colour derived from Black and brown skin tones. Each artwork honours a specific Black American or overlooked historical narrative, transforming the flag into a portrait of identity and resilience. Edmonds’s thick brushwork and earthy palette challenge traditional flag symbolism, inviting viewers to reflect on race, belonging, and the evolving meaning of national symbols. The series received the inaugural AWARE Prize at The Armory Show, recognising its impact on contemporary art and visual culture.

Public Art and Community Engagement

In addition to her studio practice, Edmonds has completed major public art commissions throughout Southern California, including murals and sculptural works for Caltech, as well as the cities of Inglewood, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Pasadena, and La Jolla.

Awards and Accolades

• Guggenheim Fellowship (2022)
• AWARE Prize (The Armory Show, 2020)
• City of Los Angeles (COLA) Fellowship
• California Community Foundation Fellowship

Exhibitions

June Edmonds has been the subject of both solo and group exhibitions at important institutions. A selection of important exhibitions is provided below.

Solo Exhibitions

• Full Spectrum, Laband Art Gallery, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles (2021)
• Joy of Other Suns, Luis De Jesus Los Angeles (2021)
• Flag Paintings, California African American Museum, Los Angeles (2020)
• June Edmonds: Energy Wheel Paintings, Watts Towers Arts Center, Los Angeles (2019)

Group Exhibitions

• Afro-Atlantic Histories, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2024)
• The Armory Show, New York (2020)
• California African American Museum, Los Angeles (multiple years)
• Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, Massachusetts (2023)

Website

June Edmonds’s website can be found here.

June Edmonds FAQs

Ocula | 2025