Watson Mere

African Voices Front Cover Artist | Summer Fall 2025 Harry Belafonte Tribute Issue

A muscular, bare-chested warrior in a red skirt and white sash shouts fiercely amid swirling flames. He wears a tall, yellow feathered headdress and gold earrings, gripping a double-headed axe decorated with gold and eyes. Smoke billows in the background.
SANGO BABA WA
A woman with long, braided hair wears a black NY cap, gold hoop earrings, and claw-like red nails. She is dressed in a flowing black outfit, with gold jewelry, and holds her shoulder. A single red rose lies on the ground near her. The background is plain.
Symphony
Two hands adorned with rings and bracelets grip a subway rail. Above, a New York City subway map shows the Far Rockaway A train route. A MoMA PS1 poster and blurry train windows are visible in the background. The scene suggests a diverse, urban commute.
Subways
A person with curly hair and a puffy blue outfit stands in a sunflower field. Balanced on their head is a tray holding folded clothes, fruit, medicine bottles, a candle, wine, a laptop, and books. They hold a phone and look forward, surrounded by blooming sunflowers.
Goliath

About the Artist

Watson Mere is an award-winning visual and performance artist who has been exhibiting his work for the past eight years. Mere’s work has been shown in galleries, museums and venues, which include the Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY; Venice Art Gallery, Venice, Italy; The Oculus at the World Trade Center, New York, NY; Gracie Mansion Conservatory, New York, NY; Norman Rea Gallery, York, United Kingdom, and The Africa Center, Harlem, New York. He has earned various awards including the 2024 Artist in Residence for the Haiti Cultural Exchange, the 2022 Elizabeth Foundation For The Arts Studio Program, a 2023 recipient of the Frederieke Sanders Taylor Studio Projects Fund, and the 2018 Citation of Honor (Arts) from the District Attorney of Kings County. Mere and his work has been featured in publications and television networks such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vogue Magazine, Hyperallergic, Esquire Magazine, Artsy, NPR, News 12 New York, Philly Magazine, Broadway World, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Colossal, GlobeNewswire, Nylon, C- Suite Quarterly, and more.

Mere attended Florida A&M University, receiving a B.A. in Business Administration in 2011 and a Masters in Business Administration in 2015. He was born and raised in the town of Belle Glade, FL to two immigrant parents from Haiti. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, and maintains a studio at The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts in Times Square, Manhattan.

A stylish man stands outdoors in warm sunlight, wearing a tan blazer, a beige hat, a patterned scarf, and a T-shirt featuring a black-and-white portrait of a woman. Parked cars and brownstone buildings are visible in the blurred background.
Watson Mere
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