Derek Fordjour (b. 1974, Memphis, Tennessee) is a graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. He earned a Master’s Degree in Art Education from Harvard University, and an M.F.A. in painting at Hunter College. His work has been exhibited in numerous venues including The Whitney Museum, New York; Sugarhill Museum, Harlem; and BAM, Brooklyn. In September 2018, the Whitney Museum in partnership with TF Cornerstone and The High Line presented a public billboard installation by the artist as part of it's Whitney Billboard Project. Fordjour was commissioned by the New York City MTA to create a series of permanent mosaic installations at 145th Street Station on the Lenox Avenue line, which were installed in November 2018. Fordjour’s other awards include the 2018 Deustche Bank NYFA Fellow Award, the 2017 Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program in New York City and the 2016 Sugarhill Museum Artist-in-Residence. His work has been reviewed in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Hyperallergic and ARTnews. He was appointed Critic at Yale University University School of Art in 2018. His work also appears in several collections throughout the US and Europe including JP Morgan Chase collection and Dallas Museum of Art. He lives and works in New York.