Jerrell Gibbs

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

“The first series I did was like a soundboard for how I felt at that time, about injustice and being a Black man in America and Baltimore City, to be more specific. Now my work has transformed into me wanting to document these lived experiences that are more celebratory and show our mundane, day-to-day activities. Those activities are just as important, and they solidify who we are as a people. It makes us appreciate the value of what we have in our day-to-day lives because we are enough.”

Jerrell Gibbs retraces family memories, examining the origin of his own life by representing intimate and instantly joyous moments. While affirming the multilayered experience of the African-American diaspora, Gibbs plunges the viewer into an immersive experience, the realm of his childhood. Growing up in Baltimore influenced his perspective of socio-economics, body politics, race, economic disparities and their influence on one another. Through his figurative portraits, Gibbs accentuates banal representations of black identity by depicting empathy, inviting the possibility for a spiritual connection.