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Biography

Bio
Jenna Gribbon | Fredericks & Freiser

Photography by Nir Arieli

Jenna Gribbon

“In these works, Jenna Gribbon draws on a deep historical well—from the Rococo indolence of Fragonard, to the haptic homoeroticism of archaic Greek athletes, to the lively brushstrokes of the Impressionists—with remarkable fluidity. One has the sense that she is as familiar with art history as she is with her subjects and is allowing her viewers a coveted glimpse into a private sphere. It’s all done so eloquently that the gesture is as disarming as it is pleasing.” Katie White, Artnet    

 

 

Jenna Gribbon’s paintings draw from memory, art history, and contemporary life. Her syncretic canvases draw on several centuries of painting: figures disporting themselves in a sylvan setting recall Fragonard’s fêtes galantes; an interiors swiftly brushed-on walls evoke the cursory backgrounds of Mary Cassatt; gently distorted architectural features summon the laissez-faire depictions of Karen Kilimnik. Sampling freely from various representational techniques and movements, Jenna Gribbon’s paint handling swerves from the virtuosic to the intentionally slapdash; fast, impressionistic strokes often about minutely illustrated details, highlighting the artist’s interest in collapsing numerous pictorial strategies into a single canvas. Jenna Gribbon was recently featured on the cover of Purple Magazine. She has been included in exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw; Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville; Ft. Worth Art Museum, Ft. Worth, TX, the Kurpfalzicches Museum, Heidelberg, The Frick Museum, NY and others.