Jammie Holmes (born 1984) is an American painter and public artist. As a painter, he is known for work that represents scenes of Black life in the American deep south, paying particular attention to the contrast of Louisiana as a hub of hospitality and as a place with a deep history of poverty and racism.[1][2] He has been described as a self-taught painter.[2] Holmes lives and works in Dallas, Texas.[3]

Jammie Holmes
Born1984 (age 39–40)
Thibodaux, Louisiana
EducationSelf-taught as painter
Known forPainting, public art
Websitewww.jammieholmes.com

Early life

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Holmes was born and raised in Thibodaux, Louisiana.[4][2] He grew up in a place surrounded by reminders of slavery along with the labor union conflicts which have had an intense presence since the Thibodaux Massacre of 1887.[5]

Art career

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In 2020 Holmes staged a performance where George Floyd's last words were attached to airplane banners and flown above New York City, Dallas, Los Angeles, Detroit, and Miami.[6][7][8] The words appeared in large block text; in Detroit the banner read "PLEASE I CAN’T BREATHE", while in New York city it read "THEY’RE GOING TO KILL ME".[9][10] In 2021 he presented the billboard project I'VE SEEN IT ALL in Dallas, Texas.[11]

His paintings are included in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston[12] and the Scantland collection at the Columbus Museum of Art.[13]

Exhibitions

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  • Conception Art Show, Dallas, TX (2017)
  • My Colors, Pocket Art Studio, Rome, Italy (2018)
  • Permanent, Mega Art Gallery, Corchiano, Italy (2018)
  • Conception Art Show, Dallas, TX[14] (2018)
  • Clean Water, Stella Jones Gallery, New Orleans, LA (2019)[15]
  • No Dead Artists, Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, New Orleans, LA (2019)[16]
  • LA Artcore 5th Annual Juried Exhibition (2019)[17]
  • What We Talking About, Marianne Boesky Gallery (2022)[18]
  • Pieces of a Man, Library Street Collective, Detroit (2021)[19]
  • What Happened to the Soul Food?, Gana Art Gallery, Korea (2022)[20]
  • SomewhereinAmerica, Various Small Fires, Los Angeles (2023)[21]

References

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  1. ^ "Jammie Holmes". Library Street Collective. Archived from the original on 2021-07-27. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  2. ^ a b c Biro, Matthew (2 June 2021). "Jammie Holmes: Pieces of a Man". The Brooklyn Rail.
  3. ^ "Four Black Men, Lost in Thought". The New York Times. 2 October 2020.
  4. ^ Hicks, Tyler. "Artist Jammie Holmes Paints What He Knows: Stories of Trauma and Survival". Dallas Observer.
  5. ^ "The Thibodaux Massacre Left 60 African-Americans Dead and Spelled the End of Unionized Farm Labor in the South for Decades". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  6. ^ Moss, Hilary (1 June 2020). "George Floyd's Final Words, Written in the Sky". The New York Times.
  7. ^ Holland, Oscar; Pellerin, Ananda (2 June 2020). "George Floyd's last words fly across the skies of US cities". CNN.
  8. ^ "George Floyd's Last Words Soar Over Detroit: "Please I Can't Breathe"". wdet.org. June 2020.
  9. ^ "Artist Jammie Holmes Flies Banners Across the Sky to Remember George Floyd's Last Words". Observer. 3 June 2020.
  10. ^ "Why Visual Artist Jammie Holmes Took George Floyd's Last Words to the Sky". Texas Monthly. 10 July 2020.
  11. ^ "Artist Jammie Holmes Wants to Remind Dallas About the City's Black History". D Magazine. 21 July 2021.
  12. ^ "Jammie Holmes Brown Sparrow". mfah.org.
  13. ^ "Present Generations: Creating the Scantland Collection of the Columbus Museum of Art". columbusmuseum.org. 25 May 2021.
  14. ^ "New Digital Art Exhibit Features Dallas-Based Artist's Sky-High Response to the Murder of George Floyd". PaperCity Magazine. 2020-06-08. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  15. ^ ""Clean Water" | Jammie Holmes - Exhibitions - Arts District New Orleans". www.artsdistrictneworleans.com. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  16. ^ "International Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Art - 23RD ANNUAL NO DEAD ARTISTS - Exhibitions - JONATHAN FERRARA GALLERY". www.jonathanferraragallery.com. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  17. ^ "5th Annual Juried Exhibit". LA Artcore. Archived from the original on 2021-07-27. Retrieved 2020-09-20.
  18. ^ "What We Are Talking About". Marianne Boesky Gallery.
  19. ^ Matthew Biro (June 17, 2021). "Jammie Holmes: Pieces of a Man". Brooklyn Rail.
  20. ^ Alexis Schwartz (January 21, 2022). "Jammie Holmes Unveils the Rural Black South to the World". Cultured Mag.
  21. ^ Angelica Villa (February 17, 2023). "Painter Jammie Holmes Wrestles with What It Means to Belong". ARTnews.