How Dimithry Victor Translates Black Caricature into Community and Empowerment in ‘All in the Family’
Many of the paintings in the exhibition sold.
Cheer Sisters, 2025.
For Dimithry Victor, the Black experience is rooted in everything he says, does, and paints. Black existence is political, Black people are the blueprint for the culture, and Black people are more than the struggles we face. Every day, Victor finds beauty in the Black community—down to our unique features, our style, and how we see biological and chosen family. In his first solo exhibition, All in the Family, Victor displays cultural references that Black people, as well as non-Black people, can encompass.
While Victor has shown his work around the world, All in the Family was on view at Victor Victor’s gallery space in Lower Manhattan. Unironically, Dimithry is Steven Victor’s nephew, the founder and CEO of Victor Victor Worldwide. Despite the fact, there was no nepotism displayed here. Victor put his blood, sweat, and tears into this body of work, which he had only about two months to complete, including several large paintings, while overcoming obstacles and challenges—a recurring theme in his craft, alongside love, emotions, and togetherness.
Every brush stroke counts. Some of Victor’s paintings in this exhibition are painted in black and white because, although the canvas lacks color, the viewer can still pinpoint that those in the paintings are Black based on features and details. When you look closely at Victor’s paintings, you’ll notice a particular type of geometry on all of the faces. This is because he references African masks to create each face and head shape, as well as their features.
Suavé, 2025.
Born and raised in Florida, another aspect of family that’s close to home for Victor is athletics. The state is renowned for its Division 1 sports, particularly in football and cheerleading. He also compares painting to sports; being in constant competition with himself, his ideas, his boundaries, the paintbrush, and the canvas. Victor’s community growing up was predominantly Black, and he didn’t have many encounters with non-Black people. Therefore, all of his paintings, even those that convey universal experiences and stories, stem from a Black perspective.
“I don’t think you can live life and not be inspired by politics in everything every day,” he says. “From the way we dress, the neighborhoods we live in, to even the things we consume in terms of food and culture, it’s all dictated by politics. However, the politics in my work are not so in-your-face. One of my paintings, Silk, is a Black woman insinuating that she has money without showing or doing too much.”
Silk is a black and white painting of a luxurious Black woman wearing a dress, heels, having her toes done, edges laid, and wearing a pin-straight wig. From a Black standpoint, the woman in the painting could be doing anything from going to brunch with friends to going to the club. From any other perspective, people see body modification and splurging on cosmetic alterations. Regardless, she’s done up. She’s not overdressed; everyone around her is underdressed, and they need to get on her level.
Another painting that stands out to viewers most in All in the Family is The Boy in Blue. It was so eye-catching that Tyler, the Creator, bought the piece. The eight-foot, double-canvas piece depicts a Black police officer running while shooting his gun. Although the painting has a negative connotation, Victor acquired The Boy in Blue’s blue color palette from a particular scene in The Goofy Movie.
“The whole point of the painting is supposed to make you feel small,” he says. “The system and the government are the problem.”
Victor also wants viewers to create their own stories, convey their feelings, and evoke emotions as they study his paintings, from start to finish. In Cinema, he wants you to assume why certain people in the movie theater are making a specific type of facial expression, why a couple would be making out as the person next to them is deeply immersed in the film, what they’re watching, why they’re wearing certain colors, among an endless list of assumptions.
The Boy in Blue, 2025.
While the people in all of Victor’s works may look like real people who sat for the painting or were a part of his life, all of them are fictional; he comes up with all of the faces in his head and has never incorporated a real person, even if it was a background person. Albeit, many viewers have compared the fictional people in Victor’s paintings to real people (even I did it when I first viewed the body of work). For example, people saw everyone from Jorge Gitoo Wright, Alton Mason, to Smino in Suavé.
Victor’s goal—both personally and artistically—is to continue traveling and showcasing his work worldwide while embracing Black culture. Although all the paintings featured in All in the Family sold, you can view this body of work, as well as his early work, in his self-titled book.
