Jamel Robinson

Bio: Jamel Robinson is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist working in the mediums of abstract expressionist painting, sculpture, writing, and performance. His work ponders itself alongside maker and audience while serving as a time-stamp of the experiences shaping his life and creative practice. 

Robinson’s works have gained him notoriety at home and abroad, attracting a variety of prominent collectors. 

Jamel has most recently been celebrated by the New York Times and CBS News for his “Beauty from Ashes,” solo exhibition and teaching artist residency at the Hudson River Museum in New York. The body of work was curated in response to “African American Art in the 20th Century,” the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s traveling exhibition of select permanent works which opened at the Hudson River Museum at the start of Robinson’s residency in the fall of 2021. 

Robinson lives and works in Harlem, New York City where he was born and raised.

Artist Statement: The through line of my work is rooted in a continuous exploration of the practice of time-stamping experience through various forms of artistic language. Wether it is writing, painting or most recently composing I am always capturing the moments of my life. Over the past decade I have concentrated heavily on visual arts, using painting as a way of mounting experiences to various mediums in the same ways that passport stamps mark travel. 

From various forms of abstract expressionism, including abstract self portraiture, interactive fabric sculpture, canvas sculpture and assemblage I am constantly in pursuit of interchanging disciplines like language in order to express what’s current within me and around me.

My recent bodies of work center around the use of materials associated with the grief surrounding the Black experience in America. Repetitiously using combinations of sand, seashells, rice, pennies, rope, chains, wood and other objects that point to an ongoing history of oppression, I add texture to an abstract practice, creating dialogue about a change that still hasn’t fully ever come for black people. 

Selected Solo Exhibitions: 

2022: The SCREAM Paintings, Adam Cohen’s A Hug From The Art World Gallery, New York, NY

2021: Beauty From Ashes, Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY

2020: Jamel Robinson: UNFETTERED, Established Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

2019: Jamel Robinson: HOME, NovoARTS, New York, NY

2017: An Electric Wind, Art Zealous & 1412 Partners, LLC, New York, NY. Hoodies For The Homeless Charity Exhibition, 205 Hudson, New York, NY. And Here I Am Flying [REVISITED] Vermlandsgade 51 Gallery, Copenhagen, DK

2016: And Here I Am Flying, Gallery Von Schmordenfaden, Copenhagen, DK. Jamel Robinson: Facing Infinity [REVISITED] Ivy Brown Gallery, New York, NY. Jamel Robinson: Facing Infinity, Jamestown Partners & Ivy Brown Gallery, New York, NY. Seven Years, Studio 308, Los Angeles, CA 

2015: Inside The Artist Studio, Ivy Brown Gallery for WINDOW 125 Season 8, Roger Smith Hotel, New York, NY. Jamel Robinson: Works On Paper, SoHo House & Art Basel 
Miami, FL. Abstract Self Portraiture, NovoARTS, New York, NY. Artist Showcase, NovoARTS, New York, NY. Point Of Departure, Ivy Brown Gallery, New York, NY 

2014: Jamel Robinson: PAINTINGS, Ivy Brown Gallery & The OUT Hotel, New York, NY. Live Mural & Custom Painting Exhibition, Bosideng Brand & Rothman's, Department Store, New York, NY 

2013: Giant Steps, Highline Stages, New York, NY

Selected Group Exhibitions: 2022: Order / Reorder: Experiments with Collections, Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY. The Fool, Co-organized by 8th House Projects & Deli Gallery, 8th House Projects, Mexico City, Mexico.

2021: BOOMSHAKALAKA, Curated by Michael Mosby, False Flag Gallery, New York, NY. The Eyes Have It, Lehman College Art Gallery, Bronx, NY. The Meeting Point
ARTNoir, Regular Normal Gallery & The Meatpacking Association, New York, NY

2020: INTERSECTIONS, Litchundfire Gallery & NY Artists Equity Association, New York, NY

2018: 100 Works, Co-curated by Derrick Adams, Larry Ossei-Mensah & Friends, New York, NY

2016: L'ART S'INVITE CHE VOUS, EFERYA Gallery, Paris, FR. Live Painting, The Kingdom Come Collective @ WIX Offices, New York, NY. Charity Auction & Fundraiser 
The Boabab Home / Steven Tito Academy, Jersey City, NJ. Kingdom Collective: New Skins, DFBK Gallery, New York, NY. Wonder World, Rush Arts Gallery, New York, NY. Custom Mannequin Showcase, Hoodies For The Homeless, New York, NY. Yonkers Arts Weekend Commission Painting, Yonkers Mayor's Office, Yonkers, NY. Blue Horizon, Foundation Charity Auction, New York, NY. Bailey House Gala & Auction, Courtesy of Ivy Brown Gallery, New York, NY. Art 3f Fair, Courtesy of EFERYA Gallery, Paris, FR

2015: CURRENT, NovoARTS, New York, NY 

2014: Live Painting Commission, WP LIVE, Arts & Music In The Park, Union City, NJ. Side Hustle Charity Auction: Mt. Sinai's Child Life & Creative Art's Therapy Department, New York, NY

2013: WuTang Hybrid Arts 20th Anniversary Charity Auction, Smile Design Gallery: Art Basel, Miami, FL. Project Renewal 7th Annual Fall Ball Auction & Gala, New York, NY. Somewhere Only WeKnow, New York, NY. 6x6, Heath Gallery, New York, NY. Kick 4 Life Charity Auction, New York, NY

2012: Heartbeat Group Exhibition, Ivy House Studios, New York, NY. Give Kids A Shot!, NMA Gala, New York, NY 

Social: @iamjamelrobinson