Mark Thomas Gibson delves into the complexities and contradictions inherent in America's current state, viewing them as extensions of its historical backdrop. Using the mediums of painting and sketching, he taps into the established conventions of historical artwork and parody, underscoring the inherent absurdities in American traditions and their penchant for turning into legends. Gibson's art adopts the sharp, subversive essence of satirical illustrations, ensuring the messages conveyed are both direct and potent. While offering insights, challenging, and even poking fun at prevailing societal hierarchies and cultural dominances, Gibson's creations craft a tale of America where both the artist and the observer are deeply entrenched in its unfolding saga.
Mark Thomas Gibson (b. 1980, Miami, FL) received his BFA from The Cooper Union in 2002 and his MFA from Yale University School of Art in 2013. He was most recently named a recipient of the 2022 Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Grant and was awarded a 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship. He is also the 2021 recipient of the Pew Fellowship from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage in Philadelphia and received the Lewis Center for the Arts Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University the same year. Gibson’s work was most recently on view in Shifting Gaze: A Reconstruction of the Black and Hispanic Body in Contemporary Art, Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art at Virginia Beach, and THIS IS AMERICA at Kunstraum Potsdam in Germany. Other recent group show venues include the Contemporary Art Museum, University of South Florida, Tampa; Gladstone Gallery, New York, and Jeffrey Deitch in New York. In 2016, Gibson co-curated the traveling exhibition Black Pulp! with William Villalongo at the Yale School of Art. The show examined evolving perspectives of Black identity in American culture and history from 1912 to 2016, and garnered reviews in The New York Times and Art in America. Gibson's first publication, Some Monsters Loom Large, was released in 2016. His second book Early Retirement was published a year later with Edition Patrick Frey in Zurich and was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Mark Thomas Gibson teaches at Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University and lives and works in Philadelphia, PA.