Brandywine Museum of Art awarded $300,000 grant from The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage
Chadds Ford, PA, September 26, 2024 — The Brandywine Museum of Art is the proud recipient of a $300,000 grant award from The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, one of 39 new grants from the Center that will support innovative operating models, performances, exhibitions, events, and local artists in the Greater Philadelphia region. This grant will help fund Jerrell Gibbs: No Solace in the Shade, a major exhibition organized by the Brandywine and opening next September 28, 2025. It will be the first museum exhibition of artist Jerrell Gibbs (b. 1988). Based in Baltimore, Gibbs has created a highly personal body of work that explores Black masculinity—visually, conceptually and existentially.
This project will mark the artist’s largest exhibition to date, his first one-person museum exhibition, and his first publication. “Jerrell is a remarkable painter whose vigorous, dazzling brushwork is paired with highly personal imagery evoking contentment and joy. His work extends and expands upon in an exciting way the figurative tradition that is so well represented in Brandywine’s collection,” said Thomas Padon, the James H. Duff Director of the Brandywine Museum of Art. “I am grateful for the support of The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage in helping to make this major project possible.”
Featuring more than 30 paintings drawn from museum and private collections in the U.S. and Europe, No Solace in the Shade will present an incisive body of work that challenges the power of visual stereotypes of Black life, particularly those of Black men. In his distinctly gestural figurative paintings, allegorical and often autobiographical, Gibbs conveys a sense of deep emotion behind his various expressions of Black culture. He interjects a sense of equanimity and joy not often related to Black figures in the art historical canon, dismantling the visual misrepresentation of Black men being associated with violence, trauma and fear. “I am excited about this exhibition because it demonstrates how stories of Black people can exist in an institutional setting without being in a sensationalized context,” said Gibbs. “This show captures moments of everyday Black life reinforcing the notion that paintings of Black stories and experiences are of value.”
The exhibition will be guest curated by Angela N. Carroll, a writer, art historian and professor based in Baltimore. “Anyone who experiences Jerrell Gibbs work, virtually or in-person, is moved by what they encounter,” said Carroll. “No Solace in the Shade celebrates the power of human connection, the quiet dignity of everyday life, and the beauty of family. I am honored to be the guest curator for what will undoubtedly be a historic survey of Gibbs iconic métier. The most astonishing part is that this is only the beginning of his esteemed career.”
No Solace in the Shade will be organized in four sections: “Sounds of Color: Recorded Memories,” “Solace,” “Admiration,” and “Expansion.” Each section will orient the subjects, aesthetics and compositional strategies that Gibbs employs. “Sounds of Color” will feature paintings, named for musical notes, that feature a recurring figure Gibbs calls “Salvador” and based on an anonymous photograph from an old scrapbook. “Solace” will feature paintings that document beautiful moments of men in repose and trouble historical misconceptions about rest and Black identity. “Admiration” will survey works with themes of community, familial and fraternal gatherings, and the healing representation of home as a haven. Lastly, “Expansion” will include commissioned portraits of men Gibbs admires, including the late U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings and August Wilson, and portraits of figures Gibbs has dreamed of—allegories more than men—who reflect aspects of his growth as a painter, father, husband and friend. Complementing these themes, a variety of public programs will be offered during the run of the exhibition, including artist talks, music and dance performances, and artmaking workshops.
The accompanying fully illustrated catalogue—the first monographic treatment of Gibbs’s work—will feature an essay exploring the history of Gibbs’s creative practice and its value to the tradition of figurative art written by Carroll. Additional essays include a conversation with Jessica Bell Brown, Curator and Department Head for Contemporary Art at the Baltimore Museum of Art, focusing on questions of Gibbs’s practice, process and style; a discussion with curator and cultural critic Larry Ossei-Mensah that explores the cultural references and inspiration that inform Gibbs’s practice; and a long-form lyrical poem in response to Gibbs’s series “Sounds of Color: Recorded Memories” by filmmaker and poet NIA JUNE. Additionally, the catalogue will feature images of Gibbs working in his studio over several months by Washington D.C.-based photographer Kelvin Bulluck.
No Solace in the Shade will be on view at the Brandywine Museum of Art from September 27, 2025, through March 1, 2026.
About the Brandywine Museum of Art:
The Brandywine Museum of Art features an outstanding collection of American art housed in a 19th-century Mill building with a dramatic steel and glass addition overlooking the banks of the Brandywine Creek. The Museum is located on Route 1 in Chadds Ford, PA. Current admission rates and hours of operation can be found at www.brandywine.org/hours. Guided tours of the Andrew Wyeth Studio, N. C. Wyeth House & Studio and the Kuerner Farm—all National Historic Landmarks—are available seasonally (for an additional fee); advance reservations are recommended. For more information, call 610.388.2700 or visit brandywine.org/museum. The Museum is one of the two programs of the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art.
About the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art:
The Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art preserves and promotes the natural and cultural connections between the area’s beautiful landscape, historic sites and important artists. The Conservancy protects the lands and waters throughout the Brandywine Valley and other priority conservation areas, developing sustainable approaches to emerging needs and assuring preservation of majestic open spaces and protection of natural resources for generations to come. The Museum of Art presents and collects historic and contemporary works of American art, engaging and exciting visitors of all ages through an array of exhibitions and programs. The Brandywine unites the inspiring experiences of art and nature, enhancing the quality of life in its community and among its diverse audiences.
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