Artist Awol Erizku exhibits work in Stems Gallery

How to break the internet? Well, judging by the most liked Instagram picture ever – 7.5 million likes in twelve hours – by placing a pregnant Queen Bee on a bed of flowers and having Awol Erizku hold the camera.

The Ethiopian-born, Los Angeles-based artist and, according to Vulture Magazine, "the art world's new 'it' boy", has been exhibiting his social media skills for a while. Occasionally he makes his account public for Instagram-only shows, but the content of his work, ranging from photography, painting, sculpture, and installation to video, can certainly not be accused of being ephemeral.

Erizku, a Yale master in fine art, has worked with people like David LaChapelle, and in 2014 he presented a series of reimagined portraits in which he juxtaposed art history with its own lack of racial diversity: Girl with a Bamboo Earring anyone? His ultimate goal is "to elevate blackness to the same level of universality as whiteness." Incisive, full-colour work, now on show at Stems Gallery.

> Awol Erizku. 21/04 > 27/05, Stems Gallery, Elsene