Jerrell Gibbs creates luminously rendered, expressionistic oil paintings that synthesize a wide range of art historical and cultural references to mine the elliptical contours of memory. His allegorical and autobiographical compositions explore themes of Black masculinity, fatherhood, legacy, and remembrance, complicating and subverting visual stereotypes and misrepresentations. Often working from archival family photographs, Gibbs creates tender, emotionally evocative vignettes that highlight moments of quiet joy and sorrow, rest, and mundane beauty while engaging deeply with the materiality of his process.
Jerrell Gibbs (b. 1988, Baltimore, MD, US) received his MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, in 2020. Gibbs’ work has been featured in solo exhibitions at James Cohan, NY, US and Mariane Ibrahim Gallery, Paris, FR & Chicago, IL, US. Gibbs participated in group shows at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Columbus Museum of Art, Baltimore Museum of Art, Banneker-Douglas Museum, Reginald F. Lewis Museum, Baltimore, and The Gallery at Howard University, Washington, D.C, among others. His first solo museum exhibition, No Solace in the Shade, will be on view at the Brandywine Museum of Art from September 27, 2025, through March 1, 2026, following the institution’s recent acquisition of a landmark painting by Gibbs. The accompanying scholarly publication will feature an essay by guest curator, writer, and art historian Angela N. Carroll. The artist was granted Rosenthal Family Foundation Award in Art, Leslie King-Hammond Award, and Roberta Polevoy Award, as well as participated at Mare Residency program, Baltimore, MD, US. Gibbs’ work is included in the permanent collection of institutions including the Brandywine Museum of Art, Baltimore Museum of Art; Columbus Museum of Art; Los Angeles Museum of Art; CC Foundation, and the X Museum Beijing. The artist’s official portrait of the late civil rights activist and United States Representative Elijah E. Cummings is on permanent display in the U.S. Capitol. The artist lives and works in Baltimore, MD, US.