Jeffrey Gibson Finds Pleasure in Color

Jeffrey Gibson (BFA 1995) lives for color. In a recent article in Departures, the artist talked about the pleasure in producing work without necessarily being held to justifying it, "there's just a pleasure in color," Gibson says. Gibson is well-known for his paintings as well as his sculptural work and provides a contemplative balance between pop and Native culture, personal identity, as well as the political––which is not an easy task. Gibson is half Choctaw, half Cherokee, gay, a new parent, and the grandson of Christian preachers on both sides of his family. His work is an intuitive culmination of his life, "I started making the other work to contextualize the painting. ... [But] painting is the one thing that you have real-time, reciprocal pleasure in producing."