Mark Thomas Gibson

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Mark Thomas Gibson's personal lens on American culture stems from his multipartite viewpoint as an artist—as a Black male, a professor, and an American history buff. These myriad and often colliding perspectives fuel his exploration of contemporary culture through languages of painting and drawing, revealing a vision of a dystopic America where every viewer is implicated as a potential character within the story. Gibson used his time at Princeton as a 2021-22 Hodder Fellow to explore the aftermath of the 2020 Presidential Election through drawing, painting, and printmaking, while working toward the completion of a new artist’s book.

Gibson received his B.F.A. from The Cooper Union in 2002 and his M.F.A. from Yale School of Art in 2013. He is represented by Fredericks & Freiser in New York, M+B in Los Angeles and Loyal in Stockholm. In 2016 he co-curated the traveling exhibition Black Pulp! with William Villalongo. He has released two books, Some Monsters Loom Large (2016) and Early Retirement (2017). The recipient of a 2021 Pew Fellowship and a 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship, Gibson is currently an assistant professor at Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University and lives and works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Video: Gibson Discusses New Exhibition

In his work, visual artist and 2021-22 Princeton Hodder Fellow Mark Thomas Gibson engages satire to depict the subtext of American politics and life. HERE YE, HEAR YE!!!, an exhibition of new collages, paintings and posters created during his fellowship year, opened in the Hurley Gallery at the Lewis Arts complex in October 2022.

Mark Thomas Gibson in Conversation with Mario Moore

Watch Mark Thomas Gibson & Mario Moore in Conversation, hosted by New Art Dealers Alliance, February 2021.

In conjunction with the launch of NADA’s fundraising edition, artists Mark Thomas Gibson and Mario Moore discuss Gibson’s printmaking process, themes and ongoing project: ‘Everyone Should Have One On Their Wall’.

” ‘Everyone Should Have One on Their Wall: Sunset’ is part of a larger project, ‘Everyone Should Have One On Their Wall,’ a series of objects produced in several mediums and scales in an attempt to find themselves physically present in the lives of others. In its ability to reinterpret history through repetition, imagery, and narrative language, Art has the power to remake history. This is the case with White Supremacy in western culture as it relates to race. Too often, images project sacrifice, martyrdom and cruelty, shifting the viewer into a sense of inactivity or voyeuristic acceptance on the matter. This piece combats the persistence of this memory, and creates a new narrative in its place.”
– Mark Thomas Gibson

View Mark’s artwork at Fredericks & Freiser, NY

View Mark’s artwork at M+B, Los Angeles

View Mark’s artwork at Loyal, Stockholm

Exhibition: “THIS IS AMERICA” — August 8-September 5, 2021, Kunstraum Potsdam, Germany.

“Meet 12 of Philadelphia’s Most Talented Artists” — 2021 Pew Grantees | Pew Center Arts, September 2021

Exhibition: Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, October 23-December 4, 2021. Opening Reception: Oct. 23 from 6-8 p.m. at M+B, 612 North Almont Drive, Los Angeles

Mark Thomas Gibson Awarded 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship | John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, April 2022

Mark Thomas Gibson receives 2022 Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Grant

Exhibition: Whirlygig!, Feb. 3-March 11, 2023, at Sikkema Jenkins & Co. at 530 W 22nd Street in NYC. Opening Reception: Friday, Feb. 3 from 6-8 PM.

Exhibition — Rising Sun: Artists in an Uncertain America, March 23-Oct. 8, 2023, at African American Museum in Philadelphia, 701 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA.

Exhibition — Mark Thomas Gibson: A Retelling — September 29, 2023 – February 4, 2024, in South Gallery, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit.

Artist’s Talk — Mark Thomas Gibson + Mario Moore — September 29, 2023, 5:30 PM in MOCAD Cafe, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit.

Artwork + Performance: Their Failure is Our Reward — On view at African American Museum in Philadelphia through March 3, 2024.