
Conrad Egyir, Studio Portrait, 2024.
Courtesy of the Artist and Miles McEnery Gallery.
Egyir's work has been featured in solo shows at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, Library Street Collective, Detroit, and Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco as well as in group shows at Cranbrook Art Museum and Grand Rapids Art Museum. His work is in the permanent collections of: Pérez Art Museum, Miami; The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit; Rennie Collection, Vancouver
BC; the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection, NY; Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, Pasadena; and the Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI. Egyir has been awarded residencies by Vermont Studio Center; ACRE Residency, Wisconsin; the Ox-Bow School of Arts and Artist Residency, Saugatuck, MI; and the International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP), Brooklyn. In 2021, he will enjoy solo presentations at UTA Artist Space (Beverly Hills, CA) and the Institute of Contemporary Art San José.
Conrad Egyir, NBA AfroFuture Festival Commission, 2025, Detroit, MI. Courtesy of the artist and the National Basketball Association.
In celebration of AfroFuture’s U.S. debut, we’re collaborating with Detroit based Ghanaian artist Conrad Egyir to give our iconic PISTONS letters a bold new look and bring them to the festival grounds! If you’ve been to a Pistons game, you’ve likely seen these letters on the concourse or at special events across Detroit — but this time, they’ll tell an entirely new story; For the AfroFuture Festival, we’re transforming them into a work of art that invites festival-goers to experience the piece up close and create lasting memories with an interactive photo moment.
Taking inspiration from the spirit of AfroFuture’s first appearance in America, Egyir reimagined the PISTONS letters with a design that speaks to the moment. He describes his painted design as, “This vibrant mural design transforms the PISTONS letters into a bold celebration of Detroit, African culture, music, and basketball. With dynamic figures, radiant color, and layered symbolism, the artwork captures the energy, pride, and unity at the heart of the city and the festival.”
Conrad Egyir, NBA AfroFuture Festival Commission, 2025, Detroit, MI. Courtesy of the artist and the National Basketball Association.
Meet the Artists: Conrad Egyir
Conrad Egyir (b. 1989, Accra, Ghana) is a contemporary artist whose work harmonizes West African folklore and iconography with themes of identity, triumph, and the collective human spirit.
He received his MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art, and his practice is characterized by a seamless fusion of surrealism's graphic sensuality and the deep-rooted traditions of storytelling.
His monumental and regal paintings and drawings employ shaped canvases and relief elements, evoking the visual language of stamps, postcards, and archival materials to explore concepts of migration, time, and the preservation of ideas.
Egyir's artistic materials include oil, acrylic, charcoal, graphite, and mixed media, and his work actively engages with religious, musical, and animated forms of popular culture. He also draws inspiration from artists such as Kerry James Marshall, Jacob Lawrence, Charles White, and Barkley Hendricks, creating a rich dialogue with their visual and thematic legacies.