2019 MacArthur Genius Grant award winner Jeffrey Gibson (b. 1972, USA) blends the aesthetic heritages of Native America, rave culture, and punk rock, breathing new life into the traditions of Modernist Abstraction. In his paintings, sculptures, garments, performances and films, indigenous craftwork and ancient abstract references coalesce to form metaphysical bridges between 20th century art movements like Geometric Abstraction, Neo-Dada and Pop Art, and contemporary fields of inquiry such as Relational Aesthetics, Institutional Critique and Identity Politics.

This wall sculpture takes its name from the 1993 Melissa Etheridge hit, Come To My Window. Gibson's artistic practice is frequently informed by music. Many of his recent works reflect upon a time in the mid-1990s when Gibson called Chicago home. Says Gibson, “This was a period when house music was so welcoming and inclusive, and being in Chicago was very optimistic. There was a space carved out for people of different backgrounds coming together and celebrating each other, letting everything go and having a good time. It felt hopeful. That was a big critical experience for me in terms of thinking about how to respond to a challenging larger culture.”

Artist Background:

2019 MacArthur Genius Grant award winner Jeffrey Gibson (b. 1972, USA) has developed a jubilant and ever-evolving studio practice that blends the aesthetic heritages of Native America, rave culture, and punk rock, breathing new life into the traditions of Modernist Abstraction. In his paintings, sculptures, garments, performances and films, indigenous craftwork and ancient abstract references coalesce to form metaphysical bridges between 20th century art movements like Geometric Abstraction, Neo-Dada and Pop Art, and contemporary fields of inquiry such as Relational Aesthetics, Institutional Critique and Identity Politics.

Recent exhibitions include the 2019 Whitney Biennial, Jeffrey Gibson: Like a Hammer, at the Seattle Art Museum, and Aftereffect, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, CO. Works by Gibson are in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Museum, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the National Gallery of Canada, the Nasher Museum, the Denver Art Museum, and many others. Gibson is a TED Foundation Fellow and a past recipient of the Joan Mitchell Grant.