Kwame Delfish

Over the spring/summer of 2026, the DMG has invited Kwame Delfish to participate in an artist residency, activating the gallery as studio space and connecting with the university and local communities.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Kwame Delfish is a Scarborough-based multidisciplinary artist whose practice centers on amplifying overlooked and untold narratives. Working independently and through his creative agency, The BlakBrush, he engages a range of mediums, including artistic direction, storytelling, painting, hairstyling, and graphic design. His work explores the intersections of culture, identity, and community, fostering dialogue and transformative engagement.

As a classically trained painter, he has exhibited work at the Gladstone Hotel, Royal Ontario Museum, ArtWorx TO via Scarborough Town Centre, and Antigua and Barbuda Art Week: Culture in Colour. Other notable commissioned works include the design of the American Museum of Natural History program logo and apparel (2020), stage production hairstyling and consulting for ‘da Kink in my Hair, Soulpepper Theatre (2022), Black History Month commemorative coins: ‘Underground Railroad’ (2022), ‘No. 2 Construction Battalion’ (2023), ‘Hogan’s Alley’ (2025) and ‘Adinkra Symbols’ (2026) for The Royal Canadian Mint, and the ‘Close to Conflict – Canada and the American Civil War’ exhibition at the Canadian War Museum featuring imagined portraits of freedom seekers in Canada during the 1850’s (2026).

Over the last 30 years, Kwame has been an integral asset to the evolution of Black hair culture in Toronto. With previous experience as a barber and hairstylist, he has shown a steadfast commitment to cultivating and redefining sociocultural perceptions of Black hair through art while building community. Expanding on these creative expressions in visual arts and hair led to the establishment of The Blak Brush in 2020, with storyteller Claudia Appiateng—a creative agency that utilizes a variety of artistic mediums to amplify Black stories. Blak Brush projects include the TO Wards Peace program branding and communications for the City of Toronto (2021), “Carnival Energy Kit” for Toronto FC (2023), the “Tree of Heroes” for Walmart Canada (2023) and a variety of other community based initiatives and collaborations.

Kwame’s most recent contributions to the public art space include design consultation on a new park in Scarborough which is currently under construction and will be completed by 2028.