Baltimore portraitist Jerrell Gibbs exhibits his work all over the nation. His paintings illustrate his life growing up as a Black man in Baltimore. Jerrell delves into the importance of collecting Baltimore experiences throughout history and how to create context for the Black experience beyond trauma in art.

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.

image:
Fly Black Boy, FLY
Oil, acrylic on canvas
72 x 60 1/4 in.
2020