Statement

Jerrell Gibbs’ practice reflects upon the historical master paintings of the past while bringing those visual languages into conversation with his own personal experiences and contemporary life. A central part of this process is looking through his personal photo albums and discovering images, gestures, compositions, expressions, and moments that unexpectedly resemble or echo paintings from art history. These connections might be subtle; a pose, a grouping of figures, the way light falls across a face, or the emotional atmosphere of a particular moment.

Rather than simply reproducing or appropriating the historical paintings, Gibbs is interested in creating a dialogue between them and the photographs that document his own life. The paintings become a way of bringing the past and present together, allowing familiar images from art history to be reconsidered through a personal and contemporary lens.

This approach also allows Gibbs to think about how certain themes in painting, family, intimacy, celebration, struggle, beauty, loss, identity, and everyday life, continue to resonate across generations. By placing images from his personal archive alongside the visual memory of the Old Masters, he hopes to create paintings that acknowledge art history while remaining rooted in the present.

Ultimately, Gibbs is interested in how historical imagery can be reactivated through personal memory. These paintings are not only about looking back at the history of painting; they are about finding ways to make that history feel immediate, personal, and relevant today.

Gibbs graduated with an MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD in 2020. His work is in the permanent collection of the Brandywine Museum of Art, Baltimore Museum of Art, Columbus Museum of Art, the Los Angeles Museum of Art, the CC Foundation, and the X Museum Beijing
Man at Peace, 2022
Oil, acrylic, oil stick on canvas
48 x 48 ″