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About

Jared McGriff describes his paintings as fiction about reality. A self-taught artist, he has developed a luminous and vibrating visual language that is foregrounded in a space of memory. Often incorporating real or imagined memories from his family’s history—their migration from the rural south of Oklahoma to the rural west of California, McGriff creates dreamlike narratives that fold the personal into the contemporary moment. More recent paintings are moving toward a broader narrative of the natural and structural environments that bodies navigate. These newer works fuse his interest in landscape painting and the figure towards a metaphorical approach where his characters navigate between the laws of nature and the laws of man and the compromises we make between the two. Overall, his expressionistic paintings conjure mundane moments and render them in ethereal brush strokes, transforming scenes of the everyday into ephemeral philosophical ruminations.

Jared McGriff was born in Los Angeles in 1977 and lives and works in Miami. He received his BA in architecture from the College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley in 1999 and his MBA from New York University in 2008.

Solo exhibitions include Alone, Together (2019) and Only Touching the Ground to Jump (2020) at Spinello Projects, and a solo exhibition at Vielmetter Los Angeles, On Being a Wild Dream (2023). His work has been featured in solo booth presentations at NADA Miami (2020), Expo Chicago (2022), The Armory Show (2022), 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair – New York (2023). In 2021, McGriff had his debut museum solo exhibition, Where We Are You, at NSU Art Museum, curated by Bonnie Clearwater. In 2023, he has been featured in museum group exhibitions both at ICA Miami and the Orlando Museum of Art.

His work is held at the permanent collections of the Rubell Museum, ICA Miami, NSU Art Museum, Orlando Museum of Art, El Espacio 23: Collection of Jorge Perez, The Bunker Artspace: Collection of Beth Rudin DeWoody, The Knight Foundation, Green Family Art Foundation, and Miami-Dade County Art in Public Places. Jared was the recipient of the South Florida Cultural Consortium Grant (2021) and was awarded the Orlando Museum of Art’s Florida Prize (2022).

Selected Works

This image depicts an artwork by Jared McGriff titled "Cyclical and structural forces react with each other in ways that are both predictable and unpredictable & The natural tendency for a body to resist change in its state of motion." This artwork was created in 2024 and measures Diptych: 70" x 50 ¹⁄₂" x 1 ¹⁄₂" [HxWxD] (177.8 x 128.27 x 3.81 cm) each. Its medium is Oil on canvas.
Jared McGriff
“Cyclical and structural forces react with each other in ways that are both predictable and unpredictable & The natural tendency for a body to resist change in its state of motion,” 2024
This image depicts an artwork by Jared McGriff titled "We Was Poolside Somewhere." This artwork was created in 2023 and measures 61" x 60 ¹⁄₂" [HxW] (154.94 x 153.67 cm). Its medium is Oil on canvas.
Jared McGriff
“We Was Poolside Somewhere,” 2023
This image depicts an artwork by Jared McGriff titled "For Us All To Breathe in Peace (Rest In Paradise Raymond)." This artwork was created in 2023 and measures 34" x 32" [HxW] (86.36 x 81.28 cm). Its medium is Oil on canvas.
Jared McGriff
“For Us All To Breathe in Peace (Rest In Paradise Raymond),” 2023
This image depicts an artwork by Jared McGriff titled "A Moment Between Pauses." This artwork was created in 2022 and measures 46" x 34" [HxW] (116.84 x 86.36 cm). Its medium is Oil on canvas.
Jared McGriff
“A Moment Between Pauses,” 2022
This image depicts an artwork by Jared McGriff titled "Measure My Diameter in Lightyears." This artwork was created in 2023 and measures 58 ¹⁄₄" x 60" [HxW] (147.96 x 152.4 cm). Its medium is Oil on canvas.
Jared McGriff
“Measure My Diameter in Lightyears,” 2023
This image depicts an artwork by Jared McGriff titled "Keeping My Brother on Ground Made Sacred the Hard Way." This artwork was created in 2022 and measures 51" x 45" [HxW] (129.54 x 114.3 cm). Its medium is Oil on canvas.
Jared McGriff
“Keeping My Brother on Ground Made Sacred the Hard Way,” 2022
This image depicts an artwork by Jared McGriff titled "Poolside in P.A.P., Pétion-Ville, Ayityi." This artwork was created in 2022 and measures 54 ¹⁄₄" x 66 ¹⁄₂" [HxW] (137.8 x 168.91 cm). Its medium is Oil on canvas.
Jared McGriff
“Poolside in P.A.P., Pétion-Ville, Ayityi,” 2022

Exhibitions

Born in Los Angeles, CA
1999
BA Architecture, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
2008
MBA, New York University, New York, NY

Selected Solo and Two Person Exhibitions

2023
"The Burden of Song Carrying," Historic Hampton House Museum of Culture & Art, Miami, FL
"On Being A Big Dream," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
2022-2023
"Jared McGriff," Rubell Museum, Miami, FL
2022
"Where We Are You," NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale, FL
2020
"Only Touching the Ground to Jump," Spinello Projects, Miami, FL
2019
"Alone Together," Spinello Projects, Miami, FL

Selected Group Exhibitions, Performances and Video Screenings

2024
"Mirror of the Mind: Figuration in the Jorge M. Perez Collection," El Espacio 23, Miami, FL
2024-2025
"Strike Fast, Dance Lightly: Artists on Boxing," co-presented by The FLAG Art Foundation and The Church, Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL
2023
"So Red It Looks Black," COMA Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami, FL
2022
"American Journey," Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, FL
EXPO Chicago, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL
"Fire, Figure, Fantasy," ICA Miami, Miami, FL
Armory Show, Javits Center, New York, NY
Florida Prize Exhibition, Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, FL
2021
"Lineages: Works from the Collection," NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, FL
2020
PRIZM Art Fair, Miami, FL (online)
"Time-Sensitive," Spinello Projects, Miami, FL
2019
PRIZM Art Fair,, Alfred Dupont Building, Miami, FL
"Grounded," Spinello Projects, Miami, FL
"Inter|sectionality," Moore Building, Miami, FL (traveling exhibition)
"Inter|sectionality," The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African - American Arts + Culture, Charlotte, NC (traveling exhibition)
"Inter|sectionality," Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, Washington, DC (traveling exhibition)
"Makings of You," Annex Gallery, Detroit, MI
2018
PRIZM Art Fair, Alfred DuPoint Building, Miami, FL
Collaboration 2018, CityPlace, Palm Beach, FL
2017
PRIZM Art Fair, MANA Downtown, Miami, FL
NVisible Atelier Group Show, Warehouse416, Oakland, CA
"Art of the Living Black," Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA
2016
MATATU Film Festival, CIIS, San Francisco, CA

Bibliography

2024
da Silva, José. "In pictures: sport at Art Basel," The Art Newspaper, June 14 (Link)
2023
Sokol, Brett. "Miami Has Matured into a Cultural Capital. What’s Next?," The New York Times, December 5 (Link)
Treaster, Joseph B. "Miami’s Rise as an Art Hub Draws Artists and Offers Inspiration," The New York Times, December 5 (Link)
Smith, Melissa. "6 Galleries Changing the Conversation at New York’s 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair," artnet news, May 19 (Link)
2022
Durón, Maximilíano. "At New York’s Armory Show, Dealers Sell Works Worth Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars," ArtNet News, September 9 (Link)
Gómez-Upegui, Salomé. "‘Fire, Figure, Fantasy’ Reflects Miami’s Thriving Art Scene, Frieze, July 7 (Link)
2021
Iglesias, José A. "After working in tech in the Bay Area, Jared McGriff moved to Miami to make art," Miami Herald, November 29 (Link)
Sokol, Bret. "Art Basel Miami Beach Returns, Smaller but Ready to Party," New York Times, November 24 (Link)
Sugarcane Staff. "NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale Presents First Solo Museum Exhibition of Miami Artist Jared McGriff," Sugarcane, November (Link)
Art Miami Magazine Staff. "Jared McGriff, first solo museum exhibition of Miami artist.," Art Miami Magazine, November 20 (Link)
Rodneu, Seph. "The Sun Also Shines In Florida," Hyperallergic, October 28 (Link)
2020
Sokol, Bret. "Art Basel Miami Beach Was Canceled, but the Show Goes On," New York Times, November 27 (Link)
2019
Warren, Kaylee. "‘Love in the Time of Hysteria’—3 Miami Basel artists reflect on artistic freedom in a world of social chaos," Document, December 4 (Link)
2018
VoyageMIA Staff. "Check out Jared McGriff’s Artwork," VoyageMIA, August 17 (Link)
2017
Hunter Davis, Melissa. "Studio Visit: Jared McGriff," July (Link)

Awards, Fellowships, and Grants

2022
Orlando Museum of Art’s Florida Prize
2021
South Florida Cultural Consortium Grant

Public Collections

The Bunker Artspace, West Palm Beach, FL
Green Family Art Foundation, Dallas, TX
ICA Miami, Miami, FL
Miami-Dad County Art in Public Places, FL
NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, FL
Rubell Museum, Miami, FL