Stefen Reed (aka Mr. Ayobe) is a multi-disciplinary artist whose abstract subject matters explore raw emotion and the pulse of the human experience. He employs a number of different disciplines and mediums, linking old fashioned and contemporary techniques with up-to-the-minute technology, oil pastels, paint, spray paint, collage and digital photography.

As a cinematographer, Reed has worked on several film projects including “Welcome to Harlem,” an award-winning musical comedy in 2012.

Reed has also served as a teaching artist in New York City and abroad, drawing his inspiration from a local after school arts education program he attended as a child, The Children’s Art Carnival (CAC) of Harlem. In this capacity, Reed has conducted multimedia classes for both children and adults, helping to bring arts and digital technologies to schools. 

Recognizing the critical need and exponential benefits of arts education within all communities, Reed’s artistic pursuits have served as a vehicle for advocating on behalf of arts programming. In 2021, he founded From The Ground Up, an affordable studio space in Harlem. Independently, Reed has been cultivating a new large series, which focuses on the history of cotton, race and American consumerism.