Kadir Nelson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kadir Nelson is an award-winning African American artist and illustrator. Born in Washington D.C., he is a graduate of Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY and lives in San Diego, CA with his family. Nelson received his bachelors in fine arts, graduating with honors, and has since worked with major publishers and production studios such as Dreamworks, Sports Illustrated, Coca-Cola, The New York Times and Major League Baseball, among others. He is also a two-time Caldecott Award winner.
Nelson has also exhibited his artwork in galleries and museums throughout the United States and abroad, including the Museum of Tolerance and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles, The Museum of African American History in Detroit, the Anacostia Museum in Washington DC, the Society of Illustrators and the Studio Museum in Harlem in New York, The Bristol Museum in England, The Citizen's Gallery of Yokohama, Japan and the Center for Culture of Tijuana, Mexico.
Many of his paintings can be found in the private collections of actors, professional athletes and musicians including Debbie Allen, Denzel Washington, Steven Spielberg, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, Berry Gordy, Sharon Stone, Spike and Tonya Lee, Terry Lewis, Jalen Rose, Venus Williams and Queen Latifah. His paintings have also decorated the sets of television sitcoms "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" and "The Jamie Foxx Show," as well as feature films Friday, Set It Off and The Beauty Shop. Most notably, Nelson was the "Conceptual Artist" for Steven Spielberg's feature film, Amistad, and the Oscar nominated animated feature Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.
Nelson has also collaborated with several notable authors on a series of picture books. Presently, over a dozen children's books are in print including the most recent Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, by Carole Boston Weatherford, Debbie Allen's Dancing in the Wings, the Coretta Scott King Award Book, Ellington Was Not a Street, by Ntozake Shange, New York Times bestsellers Salt in His Shoes and Please, Puppy, Please by Deloris and Roslyn Jordan and Spike and Tonya Lee, and Will Smith's Just the Two of Us, for which Nelson won an NAACP Image Award.
[edit] Bibliography
- 'WE ARE THE SHIP:The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson, Hyperion/Jump at the Sun, 2008.
- Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine. Scholastic, 2007.
- Michael's Golden Rules by Deloris and Roslyn Jordan, Michael Jordan. Simon and Schuster, 2007.
- Moses: When Harrriet Tubman Led her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford. Jump at the Sun, 2006
- He’s Got the Whole World in his Hands by Kadir Nelson. Dial, 2005.
- The Real Slam Dunk by Charisse Richardson. Dial, 2005.
- Hewitt Anderson’s Great Big Life by Jerdine Nolen. Simon and Schuster, 2005.
- Please, Puppy, Please by Spike and Tonya Lee. Simon and Schuster, 2005.
- Ellington was not a Street by Ntozake Shange. Simon and Schuster, 2004.
- Tales from Shakespeare by Tina Packer. Scholastic, 2004.
- Thunder Rose by Jerdine Nolen. Harcourt, 2003.
- Please, Baby, Please by Spike and Tonya Lee. Simon and Schuster, 2002.
- Under the Christmas Tree by Nikki Grimes. Harper Collins, 2002.
- The Village that Vanished by Ann Grifalconi. Dial, 2002.
- Just the Two of Us by Will Smith. Scholastic, 2001.
- Dancing in the Wings by Debbie Allen. Dial, 2000.
- Salt in His Shoes by Deloris and Roslyn Jordan. Simon and Schuster, 2000.
- Big Jabe by Jerdine Nolen. Harper Collins, 2000.
- Brothers of the Knight by Debbie Allen. Dial, 1999.
