Jeffrey Spencer Hargrave

BORN

Salisbury, North Carolina 1973

EDUCATION

Rhode Island School of Design - Painting (1993-1995)

University of the North Carolina School of Arts - Visual Arts  (1991-1993)

Lives and works in New York, NY

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2015    Escape Route:  Paintings and Drawings by Jeffrey Hargrave, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, New York

2013    Jeffrey Hargrave , 1998-2012 ( Survey Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture and Video) Contemporary Art And Editions, Millburn, NJ. (Catalog).

2005    The Nigger Inside Me, The Phatory, New York

2004    Paintings and Drawings, John Jay College, New York

2001    Recent Paintings and Drawings, Exhibit A Gallery, New York

1998    Polka Dot A Locus of Meaning, Tricia Collins Contemporary Arts, New York

1996    Assorted Works, AS220, Providence, RI

TWO PERSON SHOWS

2011    Insight (Know Meaning), Jeffrey Hargrave and James Donaldson, ThePhatory, New York

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2012     Exchanges(curated by Isaac Aden), White Box, New York

2011     Wallmart (curated by Isaac Aden and Anna Harrah), White Box, New York

             OMG, The Phatory, New York

2009     Artists in the Market Place 29, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx

2006     Emerge 7 (curated byFranklin Sirmans&Jennifer Chapek),Aljira - A Center for Contemporary Art, Newark, NJ

             Character Building, Contemporary Portraits From The West Collection, SEI, Johannesburg South Africa

             Racing Pages (curated by Rory Golden) The Gay, Lesbian & Transgendered Community Center, New York

             Blender (curated by Cordy Ryman) Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York

2004    Sho’biz, The Phatory, New York

            Carrying On, Abrons Art Center, Henry Street Settlement, New York

            Priority, Arts in General, New York

            Opposites, Suite 106 Gallery, New York

2003    Art on the Installment Plan, Artist in Residence Select Exhibition (curated by Lily Wei), Henry Street Settlement, New York

            Rowdy Remix, ATM Gallery, New York

            Group Show, Mitchell Algus Gallery, New York

2002    Now Serving, Art in General, New York

2001    Slide Slam, Art in General, New York

            Home Remedies, Gallery 138, New York

2001-2000       Artist in Residence Open Studios, Henry Street Settlement, New York

2000    Tenth Annual Water Works Visual Arts Center Regional Exhibition, Water Works Visual Arts Center, Salisbury, NC

             International Arts Weekend, ART OMI, Omi NY

             Rowan Roots, Water Works Visual Arts Center, Salisbury, NC

1999     New York, New York: Big City of Dreams, Mostra d’ArteContemporaneo (curated by Franklin Sirmans) Open Space, Milan, Italy

             Mod, Tricia Collins Contemporary Art, New York

Let Us Now Praise…Jeffrey Hargrave, Robert Rauschenberg, Walker Evans, James Perry Walker, Tricia Collins Contemporary Art, New YorK

1998    Convivial, Tricia Collins Contemporary Art, New York

            Black and Blue, Tricia Collins Contemporary Art, New York

            Over the Mantle, Over the Couch, Tricia Collins Contemporary Art, New York

TEACHING

2000-2003       Saturday Arts Academy at Henry Street Settlement, New York

2002                 PAL (Police Athletics League), New York

                         PS20 After School Program, New York

2000-2001       Gallery Education Program at the Henry Street Settlement, New York

RESIDENCIES

2008    Bronx Museum of the Arts - Artist in the Market Place Program, Bronx, NY

2005    AljiraEmerge 7: Strategic Planning - Marketing Program hosted by Creative Capital, Newark, NJ

2003    Millay Colony for the Arts, Austerliz

2000-2001       Henry Street Settlement, Artist in Residence, WorkSpace Program, New York

2000    ART OMI International Arts Center, Omi, NY

1999    Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME

1995-1996       AS220 Artist in Residence, Providence, RI

“My new work draws on the comedic influences of artistic pioneers such as Phillip Guston and Carroll Dunham, for example. I found it interesting from a stylistic and socio- economic viewpoint to channel the handwriting of these two white, straight men with the artful gumbo of the black, homosexual male experience in the 21^st century.

“The title of the painting Dat Nigga Would Lose His Dick,If It was not Sewn On

Is a word play on the old familiar saying, such as, for instance: ‘He would lose his head were it not attached to his shoulders’, etc. By taking a familiar, everyday saying, like the former and infusing it with ‘ethnic slang’. The phrase takes on a new meaning, turning casual conversation into a potent critique on ‘perceived’ ideas of black male sexuality.”

Jeffrey Hargrave is an African-American artist based in New York. Working in various media, Hargrave deals with representations of African-Americans, often putting them in the context of art history, remaking works by artists such as Matisse to include black figures, with racially charged stereotypical imagery.  Additionally, Hargrave deals with sexuality and particularly the subject of being an African-American gay male.

The messages inherent in these paintings force the viewer to confront these issues and not look away.   As uncomfortable as they may be, the paintings are often infused with wit and humor and are rendered with considerable confidence.

Hargrave studied at the North Carolina School of the Arts, the Rhode Island School of Design and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.  A survey of his work was held in 2015 at the Bronx Museum of Art.