Gibbs’ exhibit will debut in late September.
The Brandywine Museum of Art will present the first solo museum exhibition of Baltimore-based painter Jerrell Gibbs this fall, marking a significant milestone in the rising artist’s career.
Titled “Jerrell Gibbs: No Solace in the Shade,” the exhibition opens on September 28, 2025, and runs through March 1, 2026.
The show will feature more than 30 large-scale figurative paintings, many on view for the first time, and will span the first decade of Gibbs’s artistic practice.
Known for his expressive brushwork and emotionally resonant portrayals of Black life, Gibbs (born 1988) draws inspiration from personal and found photographs to elevate everyday moments of joy, connection, and introspection.
Organized by the Brandywine, No Solace in the Shade also marks the museum’s first solo presentation of an emerging contemporary artist.
“Jerrell is a painter of astonishing creativity and a storyteller who crafts a world of timeless themes,” said Thomas Padon, the museum’s director. “His vigorous, dazzling brushwork is paired with highly personal imagery evoking contentment and joy, where ordinary moments become elemental. His work also extends and expands on, in an exciting way, the figurative tradition that is so well represented in the Brandywine’s collection, which has grown over the years to include important works by contemporary artists—including a recent acquisition of a major painting by Gibbs that will be in the exhibition.”
Throughout his work, Gibbs pushes back against historical stereotypes by portraying Black men and families with tenderness and dignity.
In pieces like Man with Lilacs (2021), a subject cradles flowers in a serene setting, while The Electric Slide (2024) captures the energy of a backyard dance party.
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Another work, Boy meets girl (2023), reimagines a photograph from a family scrapbook, complete with the plastic binding—a nod to memory and material history.
Guest curated by Baltimore-based writer and art historian Angela N. Carroll, the exhibition explores themes of identity, memory, and belonging.
“No Solace in the Shade celebrates the power of human connection, the quiet dignity of everyday life, and the beauty of family,” she said. “This important survey of Gibbs’s iconic métier is an outstanding opportunity for audiences to experience his works. The presentation at the Brandywine also places him firmly in the long tradition of American figurative painters.”
The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue co-published by the Brandywine and Rizzoli Electa.
The monograph includes essays and conversations with leading voices in contemporary art, including Jessica Bell Brown, Larry Ossei-Mensah, and a lyrical poem by filmmaker and poet NIA JUNE. Photographer Kelvin Bulluck also contributes behind-the-scenes documentation of Gibbs’s studio process.
Jerrell Gibbs: No Solace in the Shade is supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.
Raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Jarek earned a B.A. in journalism and a B.A. in political science from Temple University in 2021. After running CNN’s Michael Smerconish’s YouTube channel, Jarek became a reporter for the Bucks County Herald before joining Delaware LIVE News.
Jarek can be reached by email at jarek@dimgrey-peafowl-504880.hostingersite.com or by phone at (215) 450-9982. Follow him on Twitter @jarekrutz and on LinkedIn.
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