NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale Presents First Solo Museum Exhibition of Miami Artist Jared McGriff
Jared McGriff: Where We Are You will be on display from November 20, 2021 – February 13, 2022
His exhibition, Jared McGriff: Where We Are You, showcases his well-known dreamlike narratives and portraitures that remain timeless even as he integrates his family’s background into the realities of the present. His family’s history in the South during the enslavement period frame his current works and help him to understand his own place in the country today.
More on Jared McGriff: Through his work, Jared’s intent is to inspire people to take a journey away from their current reality and walk through a memory, or be reminded of an experience, conversation, or a wish. Jared is encouraging viewers of his work to submit to a unique experience of their own unconscious mind, calling back their own distant emotions or memories.
There are no significant reference points for Jared while creating his work, nor models or photos. It is derived from the imagination alone. It is an encapsulation of a moment in time.
This exhibition contrasts paintings that suggest contemporary snapshots of the artist’s present with paintings that conjure the real and imagined experiences of his family’s migration from the rural south to the rural west of Oklahoma and California. The exhibition’s title Where We Are You encapsulates notions of African Ubuntu philosophy where the individual becomes whole through the experience of the group.
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. — November 20, 2021 — NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale will present the first solo museum exhibition of Miami artist Jared McGriff from November 20 through February 13, 2022. Titled Jared McGriff: Where We Are You, this exhibition showcases McGriff’s dreamlike narratives that remain timeless even as he integrates his family’s history into the realities of the present.
This exhibition contrasts paintings that suggest contemporary snapshots of the artist’s present with paintings that conjure the real and imagined experiences of his family’s migration from the rural south to the rural west of Oklahoma and California. This juxtaposition of past and present reflects how contemporary times are shaped by the historical.
The exhibition’s title Where We Are You encapsulates notions of African Ubuntu philosophy where the individual becomes whole through the experience of the group. McGriff’s composition of single and grouped figures embodies the guiding principle for many early cultures that each individual’s actions impact others and society.
Jared McGriff: Where We Are You is curated by Bonnie Clearwater, NSU Art Museum Director and Chief Curator.
NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale is located at One East Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301. NSU Covid-19 guidelines will be strictly enforced. Face coverings are required. For more information, please visit nsuartmuseum.org or call 954-525-5500. Follow the Museum on social media @nsuartmuseum.
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About NSU Art Museum
Founded in 1958, NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale is a premier destination for exhibitions and programs encompassing many facets of civilization’s visual history. Located midway between Miami and Palm Beach in downtown Fort Lauderdale’s arts and entertainment district, the Museum’s 83,000 square – foot building, which opened in 1986, was designed by architect Edward Larrabee Barnes and contains over 25,000 square feet of exhibition space, the 256 -seat Horvitz auditorium, a museum store and café. In 2008, the Museum became part of Nova Southeastern University (NSU), one of the largest private research universities in the United States. NSU Art Museum is known for its significant collection of Latin American art, contemporary art with an emphasis on art by Black, Latinx and women artists, African art that spans the 19th to the 21st-century, as well as works by American artist William Glackens, and the European Cobra group of artists. Two scholarly research centers complement the collections: The Dr. Stanley and Pearl Goodman Latin American Art Study Center and the William J. Glackens Study Center.
Exhibitions and programs at NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale are made possible in part by a challenge grant from the David and Francie Horvitz Family Foundation. Funding is also provided by the City of Fort Lauderdale, AutoNation, Community Foundation of Broward, the Broward County Board of County Commissioners as recommended by the Broward Cultural Council and Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture. NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale is accredited by the American Association of Museums.
