Mark Thomas Gibson (born 1980, Miami, FL) is an artist, curator, and professor living and working in Philadelphia, PA. Gibson received his BFA from Cooper Union in 2002 and his MFA from the Yale University School of Art in Painting/Printmaking in 2013, where he received the Ely Harwood Schless Memorial Fund Award. Solo exhibitions include The Dangerous One, Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery (Philadelphia), Gauntlet, Loyal Gallery (Stockholm), Early Retirement, Fredericks and Freiser (New York). Group exhibitions include Shaker Museum (New Lebanon), Salon 94 (New York), Paul Kasmin Gallery (New York), Contemporary Art Museum, University of South Florida (Tampa), Mother Gallery (Beacon), Fumetto International Comix Festival (Lucerne).

Gibson co-curated the exhibition Black Pulp! with William Villalongo in 2016, which has travelled from Yale University to IPCNY, USF, and Wesleyan University. Black Pulp! has been reviewed in the New York Times and Art in America. In 2016 Gibson self-published his first book, Some Monsters Loom Large, with the help of an E-Grant from the Foundation of Contemporary Arts, NY, NY. The book was re-issued in a second edition in partnership with IPCNY. Gibson’s second book Early Retirement was released in 2017 with Edition Patrick Frey, Zurich, Switzerland. Early Retirement was acquired to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection.

Mark Thomas Gibson is represented by Loyal Gallery (Stockholm) and M+B (Los Angeles). Gibson is currently an Assistant Professor at Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Philadelphia, PA. He is currently working on his third book Behold a Black Wolf.

In the article Frieze, “Acts of Recognition: A new wave of figurative painting in recent New York exhibitions prompts critical questions about which bodies we depict, for whom and to what end”, David Geers said of Gibson’s work: “For Mark Thomas Gibson, the quest for utopia likewise remains a necessary collective project. Weaving an allusive narrative drawn from his corresponding graphic novel, Gibson works in a vibrant comic-book style, presenting images both ominous and hopeful. … As in much science fiction, the work shows one timeline of many; it’s up to us to alter the course.”

Solo exhibitions

2023
WHIRLYGIG!, Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York, NY

2022
HERE YE, HERE YE!!!, Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

2021
Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, M+B, Los Angeles, CA

2020
Resting Space, M+B, Los Angeles, CA

2019
The Dangerous One, Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2018
Gauntlet, Loyal, Stockholm, Sweden

2017
Early Retirement, Fredericks and Freiser, New York, NY

2016
Some Monsters Loom Large, Fredericks and Freiser, New York, NY

2013
Alamo Revenant, Fredericks and Freiser, New York, NY
Black and Blue, Motus Fort, Tokyo, Japan

Group exhibitions

2021
THIS IS AMERICA, curated by Mike Gessner in partnership with Albertz Benda Gallery, Kunstraum Potsdam, Berlin, Germany
A Gathering, The Catskills, New York, NY
American Psyche, two-person exhibition with Austin Lee, Carl Kostyal Gallery at Hospitalet, Stockholm, Sweden
Bitter Nest, Perrotin. Tokyo, Japan
The Myth Industry, Friends Indeed Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Something About Us, Anthony Gallery, Chicago, IL

2020
Vortex, Curated by Allison Zuckerman. Kravets Wehby Gallery, NY, NY
Drawing 2020, Barbara Gladstone, NY, NY
Living in America, curated by Assembly Room, IPCNY, NY, NY
Good Pictures, curated by Austin Lee, Jeffrey Deitch, NY
The Hundredth Exhibition, Loyal, Stockholm, Sweden
Animal Crossing, curated by Jackie Gendel + Dana Frankfort, Inman Gallery, Houston, TX
Life During Wartime, University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum, Tampa, FL
Shifting Gaze: A Reconstruction of the Black and Hispanic Body in Contemporary Art, Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach, VA

2019
Routine Malfunction, 1969 Gallery, New York, NY
Neither Devils Nor Divines, Mother Gallery, Beacon, NY
Quiet March to a Warring Song, curated by Amie Cunat, Shaker Museum, New Lebanon, NY
Big Ringer, Andrew Eldin Gallery, New York, NY

2018
The Cruellest Month, Mother Gallery, Beacon, NY
Utopias, Gallery 221, Hillsborough Community College, Tampa, FL
Shelter, International Comix Festival, Lucerne, Switzerland

2017
Woke! Contemporary Art Museum, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
The Curator’s Eggs, Paul Kasmin Gallery, NY

2016
A Being in the World, Salon 94, New York, NY
American Optimism, Able Baker Contemporary, Portland, ME

2015
The Midnight Sun, Ms. Barbers, Los Angeles, CA
The Landscape Changes 30 Times, Anahita Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
All Types of Characters, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY

2014
American Beauty, Susan Inglett, New York, NY

2013
Blane De St. Croix, Mark Thomas Gibson, Howardena Pindell, Fredericks and Freiser, New York, NY

2012
Space, Curated by Matt Jones, North Atlantic Conference Exhibition, New York, NY
Quick While Still, Curated by Kadar Brock, Heist Gallery, New York, NY

2009
Quick While Still, Curated by Kadar Brock, Motus Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Hollywood Cultural Arts Center Annual Exhibition, Hollywood, FL

Publications

2021
THIS IS AMERICA, curated by Mike Gessner in partnership with Albertz Benda Gallery, Kunstraum Potsdam, Berlin, DE
Rethinking painting: The 50th Anniversary of the LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting, by Joan Waltemath

2020
Drawing 20/20, Gladstone Gallery, Edited by Miciah Hussey, Isaac Alpert and Sarah Willis
Young, Gifted and Black: A New Generation of Artists: The Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art, edited by Antwaun Sargent

2018
Fired Up! Ready to Go! The Collections of Peggy Cooper Cafritz, By Peggy Cooper Cafritz and Thelma Golden

2017
Early Retirement, Published by Edition Patrick Frey, Zurich, CH
(Essay) Oracles, Artists Calling Cards, Published by Edition Patrick Frey, Zurich, CH

2016
Some Monsters Loom Large, 2nd Edition, Published by IPCNY, New York, NY

2015
Some Monsters Loom Large, 1st Edition, Self-Published with assistance from Foundation for Contemporary Arts, New York, NY

Curatorial projects

2018
Black Pulp!, Co–Curated with William Villalongo, (travelling), African American Museum in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA

2017
Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL

2016
International Print Center, New York, NY
32 Edgewood Gallery, Yale University, New Haven, CT

Grants, Awards, Residencies

2020-2021
Hodder Fellowship, Lewis Center for the Arts, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

2021
Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY
Elizabeth Murray Artist Residency, Troy, NY; Awarded scholarship via Agnes Gund Foundation in partnership with EMAR.

2019
Flying Horse Printshop Residency, Orlando, FL
The Fountainhead Residency, Miami, FL

2017
The MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH

2016
E–Grant, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, New York, NY

2013
Ely Harwood Schless Memorial Fund Award, Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT

2012
Yale Norfolk Teaching Assistantship, Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT

Public Collections

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, New Haven, CT
Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO
Hillsborough Community College, Tampa, FL