Robell Awake is an artist based in Atlanta, Georgia. His practice centers Black aesthetic traditions and histories through scholarship and craft, using craft objects as sites for cultural memory and critical inquiry. His work is held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, with a forthcoming commission for the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Awake was named one of Dwell magazine’s “Dwell 24,” honoring the best emerging designers from around the world. His book, A Short History of Black Craft in Ten Objects, was selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the “Best Books of 2025.”

He was a recipient of the Center for Craft’s Craft Research Fund Artist Fellowship and has taught at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Penland School of Craft, and the Woodworking School at Pine Croft. Awake has also presented at institutions including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Furniture Society, Warren Wilson College, Berea College, Washington College, the Atlanta History Center, and the North Bennet Street School.


UPCOMING SOLO SHOW:
May 2026, New York City

REPRESENTATION:
Claire Warner
Volume Gallery, Chicago
claire@wvvolumes.com