Herman Bailey

While living in Atlanta his studio space was located at the Institute of the Black World's second building. He lived at Paschal's Motor Lodge Hotel, where if he was unable to make rent he would trade artwork with one of the Paschal brothers in exchange. Bailey spoke with slurred speech, which was due to his heavy use of drugs and alcohol. Bailey was described as taking pills then drinking, spending his money on "a full pint of scotch" or vodka. Herman "Kofi" Bailey died in 1981 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Bailey was influenced by artists such as Goya, Rico Lebrun, Jacob Lawrence and Charles White. He described himself in 1967 as a "representational" artist "rather than "abstract" because his work is committed to the masses who, he feels, "want to see art that deals with man, art which tries to express the varying moods of man; and man is my principal concern.""

In 1967 Bailey was artist-in-residence at Spelman College which held an exhibition about Bailey's work that was created while he was living in Ghana in 1962–1966.

His artwork often reflected influences of Pan-Africanism. Portraits of Kwame Nkrumah often appeared, with Nkrumah, then President of Ghana, depicted as a heroic figure in front of a black star. While living in Ghana he served as an art teacher and the artist-in-residence to Nkrumah until the leader was deposed in 1966. Bailey also covered other areas of the African-American experience such as Black Power, anticolonialism, and African-American civil rights.

James Early cites Kofi's work as a major influence, describing the illustrations by Bailey as "among the great, energizing artistic expressions created in the crucible of social justice activism and organizing that was Atlanta in the 1960s." Artist and art historian Floyd Coleman described Bailey as a rule breaker: "Although he didn't follow the rules he was committed to the struggle of African Americans and set a standard in his work that many of us tried to emulate." Carmen Riddle described Bailey as "a genius, a pure genius at his art."

Herman "Kofi" Bailey (also known as Kofi X) (1931–1981) was an African-American artist. He was best known for his conté and charcoal drawings reflecting of the African-American experience.