In his large-scale paintings, Dominic Chambers reflects on the social stigma and challenges attributed to the black body, depicting black men in moments of meditation and contemplation within invented scenarios. Chambers questions the psychological and literal interpretations of the concept of “the Veil” expressed by W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) in The Souls of Black Folk (1903). According to the sociologist, African Americans live behind a veil that, like an invisible barrier, prevents white people from seeing black people as Americans, and from treating them as fully human. This colour line generates two different identities, regarding which the black man has a double vision, requiring to look at himself even through the eyes of whites, perceiving their discrimination and prejudices.

Chambers received his BFA from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design in 2016 and is an MFA candidate at the Yale University School of Art in 2019. His works have been exhibited widely, and include group exhibitions such as Now Figuration, Portrait Society Gallery, Milwaukee (2017), Post Mode 2.0, John Fonda Gallery, Baltimore (2016); Open Studios, The Pitch Project Gallery, Milwaukee (2015) and Deconstructing the Local, MIAD Contemporary Gallery, Milwaukee (2014).