The Calling of Jatairee Hudson Jr.

Obedience as the ultimate sacrifice.

By Josiah David Jones
July 2nd, 2025

Same Difference
37.5×65 inches
Oil on Canvas
2025

Step by Step
41×68 inches
Oil on Canvas
2025

A specific word comes to mind in regards to JaTaiRee Hudson Jr.’s work. That word is testimony. His paintings feel like confessions, unfolding in deep, earthy tones that suggest something spiritual rising up from silence. Each gesture, posture, and negative space feels intentional: a woman’s dress flowing in liturgical motion, arms locked in communal support, or three hands in synchronized motion in Onward. These aren’t just aesthetic decisions. They’re acts of devotion.

Hudson’s work first drew my attention in New Orleans, where he was part of The Migration curation at TOLA, Kofi Siriboe’s artist initiative. Since then, his year has unfolded with clarity: his work featured in our Frieze weekend exhibition Los Angeles with Black in Every Color, Art in Every Form followed by his solo exhibition Nothing Handed in New Orleans. While his momentum is undeniable, Hudson’s presence remains centered. Rooted in faith, discipline, and the understanding that his work is not about what he creates, but why.

“I try to focus on keeping the main thing the main thing,” he says. “And that’s painting—only painting when God speaks to me.”

The title Nothing Handed speaks plainly to the ethos of the work. Pulling from Proverbs 19:16, Hudson unpacks the show as a reflection on obedience, responsibility, and faith. “Practicing obedience, having faith, and denying myself of my own wants in life versus focusing on God’s will for me was a hard season to get through,” he reflects. “Most of the work from the show was about my own personal battles.”

The result feels like a collection aimed to reveal. A weight, a prayer, a quiet confidence in spiritual alignment. In his self-portrait Deny Self, that internal tension reaches the surface. Providing a glimpse into a moment of surrender. These works express the navigation through the dark and the light needed to do so.

“I think my spiritual and art practices are in alignment because they reflect how I should live,” he shares. “I’ve noticed that the more I dive deeper into my relationship with God, the more fluid my days, weeks, months, etc. become when it comes to creating.”

Even his color palette—a mix of beiges, browns, and shadows—feels tethered to Southern roots. Growing up in south Louisiana, Hudson gravitated toward muted tones. “Beige is my favorite color,” he laughs. But beneath that modesty is a strong sense of visual direction. His use of light, contrast, and negative space makes it feel like each painting is peeking out of something heavier, offering the viewer a moment of revelation.

And yet, this moment in his career doesn’t seem to stir restlessness in him. When asked what he would tell other emerging artists, he doesn’t offer strategy or shortcuts. Instead, he leans into patience and purpose.

JaTairee Hudson Jr. in studio.

“Discover your purpose, and ask God what you should be creating,” he says. “We are on God’s time, not ours. Trust that.”

Looking ahead, Hudson is preparing a new body of work focused on the symbolic power of communion cups—an abstracted representation of Christ’s body and sacrifice. The idea was born from reflection on the book of Revelation, and will take shape in a series of 6–10 paintings later this year. “It’s a move away from the worldly focus on what He may have looked like, and instead encourages the viewer to dive deeper into their personal relationship with God,” he explains.

Ultimately, Hudson wants his legacy—and his practice—to feel like truth. His work is not concerned with art world trends or aesthetics. It’s concerned with clarity, obedience, and building something bigger than the frame allows.

“This body of work isn’t for my own personal glorification,” he says. “It’s only for people to get closer to God and have the desire to seek Him.”

In a time where speed, self-promotion, and surface often drive visibility, JaTaiRee Hudson Jr. is taking another route. His is a slower build. Introspective, honest, and spiritually anchored. And that’s exactly why it resonates.

- Josiah David Jones

View more works by JaTairee Hudson Jr. below.