DMV Artist Creates Belt-Based Works Examining Corporal Punishment in Black Families

Multidisciplinary artist Lex Marie has gone viral on TikTok and Instagram for artworks that confront corporal punishment in Black households. C. Marie stretches belts across canvases in organized rows and columns.

She also dips belts in paint and strikes canvases to leave marks. One six-by-six-foot piece titled “Watch Your Tone” is made entirely of dozens of belts in shades of brown, black and pink. Another work, “Because I Love You,” consists of a white-painted wooden panel struck repeatedly with a paint-dipped belt.

Marie has created nearly 20 pieces in the series. “I’m critiquing discipline in Black households specifically,” Marie said. ” Yohuru Williams, founding director of the Racial Justice Initiative at the University of St.

Thomas, said the link between corporal punishment and African Americans is rooted in slavery. “This idea of whipping, this idea that black bodies require extreme punishment … has deep roots,” Williams said. Marie sold two works from the series to filmmaker Spike Lee.

She has a solo show scheduled at The Bishop gallery in Brooklyn, New York this fall. When videos of her process circulated online, thousands of viewers commented with their own childhood stories. Marie said the goal is not to accuse or shame but to create space for discussion.

Williams said Black families need an “honest” conversation about the historical legacy of corporal punishment. “That would be far more communal and affirmative of human dignity and the dignity of black life,” he said. Marie described the physical process of making “Because I Love You” as leaving her sore the next day.

She said the work has been both cathartic and difficult. The project will continue to grow over the next year as Marie develops more pieces for the planned exhibition.