Aaron Gilbert

{{Infobox artist

| name = Aaron J. Gilbert

| alt = Aaron J. Gilbert

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| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1979}}

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| nationality = American

| alma_mater = Pennsylvania State University,
Rhode Island School of Design,
Yale University

| known_for = Painting

| notable_works = "The New One" (2007) Painting

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| children = 2

}}

Aaron J. Gilbert (born 1979),{{cite web|url=http://momaps1.org/studio-visit/artist/aaron-gilbert|title=Studio Visit|website=MoMA Ps1|access-date=2016-04-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427224759/http://momaps1.org/studio-visit/artist/aaron-gilbert|archive-date=April 27, 2016|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} also known as "AJ",{{Cite web |title=Aaron "AJ" Gilbert |url=https://kathryn-mikesell-3gha.squarespace.com/artists/2016/12/8/aaron-aj-gilbert |access-date=2022-12-31 |website=Fountainhead |date=December 8, 2016 |language=en-US}} is an American visual artist. He is known for creating symbolically and psychologically charged narrative paintings. He lives and works in Brooklyn.{{Cite web|last=Brown|first=Gavin|date=2021-12-01|title=Artist Aaron Gilbert on circumventing the rules of capitalism|url=https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/pkppb9/aaron-gilbert-interview|access-date=2022-02-14|website=i-D|language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Gavin |date=January 12, 2021 |title=Artist Aaron Gilbert on circumventing the rules of capitalism |url=https://i-d.vice.com/en/article/pkppb9/aaron-gilbert-interview |access-date=2022-12-31 |website=i-d.vice.com |language=en |quote=Aaron Gilbert is a Brooklyn-based artist}}

Biography

Gilbert was born in 1979 in Altoona, Pennsylvania.{{Cite web|url=http://www.artspace.com/aaron_gilbert|title=Aaron Gilbert|website=Artspace|access-date=2016-04-14}} He is of Cuban descent.

Gilbert attended Pennsylvania State University and in 2000 received an Associate of Science in mechanical engineering technology. He returned to school at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and in 2005 received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting.{{Cite web|url=http://bombmagazine.org/article/4944/post-impressions-the-enlightenment|title=Post Impressions: The Enlightenment|last=Jones|first=Mary|date=March 9, 2011|website=BOMB Magazine|access-date=2016-04-14}}{{Cite web|url=http://lmcc.net/person/aaron-gilbert/|title=Aaron Gilbert|website=Lower Manhattan Cultural Council|language=en-US|access-date=2016-04-14}} In 2008, he received his Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale University in Painting. Prior to his full time career as an artist, he worked in CAD and as an Engineering Technician in the biomedical industry.

He was previously married to photographer Deana Lawson and together they have two children.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/11/arts/design/deana-lawson-photography-underground-museum.html|title=Deana Lawson Reveals Hidden Grandeur in Her Uncanny Portraits|last=Lubow|first=Arthur|date=2018-10-11|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-03-08|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web|url=http://culturehall.com/artwork.html;jsessionid=74E7527511405C15761AFAD53AA520EE?page=10915|title=Judah – Political Painting by Artist Aaron Gilbert|website=culturehall.com|access-date=2016-04-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160126171311/http://culturehall.com/artwork.html;jsessionid=74E7527511405C15761AFAD53AA520EE?page=10915|archive-date=January 26, 2016|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}{{Cite web|url=http://whitehotmagazine.com/articles/in-conversation-with-deana-lawson/2403|title=In Conversation with Deana Lawson|date=November 1, 2011|website=Whitehot Magazine of contemporary art|access-date=2016-04-14}} Lawson and Gilbert's work is mutually influential,{{Cite news|url=http://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/deana-lawsons-intimate-strangers|title=Deana Lawson's Intimate Strangers|last=Wender|first=Jessie|date=December 15, 2011|newspaper=The New Yorker|issn=0028-792X|access-date=2016-04-14}}{{Cite web|url=http://bombmagazine.org/article/6723827/deana-lawson-henry-taylor|title=BOMB Magazine – Deana Lawson & Henry Taylor|website=bombmagazine.org|access-date=2016-04-14|archive-date=March 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160320153838/http://bombmagazine.org/article/6723827/deana-lawson-henry-taylor|url-status=dead}} and much of Gilbert's artwork depicts Lawson and their children. His paintings feature a bright and moody palette, and staged but self-aware subjects.

In 2010, Gilbert was awarded the Rosenthal Family Foundation Award for Painting.{{Cite web|title=Award Winners|url=http://www.artsandletters.org/awards2_popup.php?abbrev=Rosenthal%2520Painting|archive-date=April 24, 2016|access-date=2016-04-14|website=American Academy of Arts and Letters|df=mdy-all|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424100714/http://www.artsandletters.org/awards2_popup.php?abbrev=Rosenthal%2520Painting|url-status=dead}} He is a 2015 Louis Comfort Tiffany Award recipient, and has been awarded by the American Academy of Arts and Letters as the 2010 “Young American Painter of Distinction.” His work is currently in the permanent collection of the Brooklyn Museum of Art,{{Citation|title=Brooklyn Museum|url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/197208|language=en|access-date=2021-11-09}} the Whitney Museum, and the Studio Museum in Harlem. Residencies include a 2013 Fountainhead Residency, a 2012 Yaddo residency, a 2008 LMCC Workspace Residency as well as the 2008 Affiliate Fellowship of the American Academy in Rome.

He has exhibited his work at PPOW New York (2021), Deitch Projects New York (2008),{{Citation|title=Jeffrey Deitch|date=2021-10-20|url=https://www.deitch.com/archive/deitch-projects/exhibitions/conceptual-figures|language=en|access-date=2021-11-09}} among others. In the fall of 2020, he had a two-person show with Martin Wong{{Citation|title=Martin Wong|date=2021-10-28|url=https://www.ppowgallery.com/artist/the-estate-of-martin-wong/work|language=en|access-date=2021-11-09}} at PPOW New York which was reviewed in The New York Times{{Cite news|date=2021-04-21|title=4 Art Gallery Shows to See Right Now|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/21/arts/design/4-art-gallery-shows-to-see-right-now.html|access-date=2021-11-09|issn=0362-4331}} and Art in America.{{Cite web|last=Wu|first=Simon|date=2021-05-20|title=Social Scales: Aaron Gilbert and Martin Wong at P·P·O·W|url=https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/aia-reviews/martin-wong-aaron-gilbert-social-realism-1234593567/|access-date=2021-11-09|website=ARTnews.com|language=en-US}}

Exhibitions

2008 – Conceptual Figures, Deitch Projects, New York City, New York{{Cite web|url=http://www.artslant.com/no/events/show/25994-conceptual-figures|title=Conceptual Figures|date=2008|website=ArtSlant|access-date=2016-04-14}}
2008–2009 – The New Akademiks, Galerie Schuster, Berlin, Germany{{Cite web|url=http://www.mutualart.com/Artist/Aaron-Gilbert/60F94FBDF92FBA02|title=Aaron Gilbert (American, 1979)|website=Mutual Art|access-date=2016-04-14}}
2009 – The Open, Deitch Studios Long Island City, Long Island City, New York{{Cite web|url=http://www.artslant.com/ny/events/show/68946-the-open|title=The Open|date=2009|website=ArtSlant|access-date=2016-04-14}}
2012 – Lessico Famigliare (Family Talk), FUTURA Center for Contemporary Art, Prague, Czech Republic{{Cite web|url=http://www.zanisnik.com/Press/futura-catalogue.pdf|title=Futura Catalog|last=|first=|date=2012|website=www.zanisnik.com|publisher=|access-date=}}{{Dead link|date=November 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
2013 – Exposure, Spinello Projects, EXPO Chicago, Navy Pier, Chicago, Illinois{{Cite web|url=http://spinelloprojects.com/2013/09/spinello-projects-announces-participation-in-expo-chicago/|title=Spinello Projects Announces Participation in Expo Chicago|website=Spinello Projects|access-date=2016-04-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512195631/http://spinelloprojects.com/2013/09/spinello-projects-announces-participation-in-expo-chicago/|archive-date=May 12, 2016|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}
2013 – Bent In, Primetime Gallery, Brooklyn, New York{{Cite web|url=http://p-r-i-m-e-t-i-m-e.com/events/past/2013/Pat_McElnea/|title=Bent In|website=Primetime Gallery|access-date=2016-04-14}}
2014 – Selfies & Friends: Contemporary Portraiture, Cade Tompkins Projects, Providence, Rhode Island{{Cite web |title=Selfies & Friends: Contemporary Portraiture |url=http://www.cadetompkins.com/exhibitions/selfies-and-friends-contemporary-portraiture/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150323001232/http://www.cadetompkins.com/exhibitions/selfies-and-friends-contemporary-portraiture/ |archive-date=March 23, 2015 |access-date= |website=Cade Tompkins Projects |quote=Cuban American b. 1979}}
2014 – Aaron Gilbert: Possessed, Mottahedan Projects, Dubai, UAE
2016 – "BRIC Biennial: Volume 2 – Bed Stuy/Crown Heights Edition", BRIC, Brooklyn, New York{{Cite news|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/arts/at-the-bric-biennial-dozens-of-local-artists-shine-a-light-on-brooklyn-9372902|title=At the BRIC Biennial, Dozens of Local Artists Shine a Light on Brooklyn|last=Mitter|first=Siddhartha|date=November 23, 2016|newspaper=Village Voice|access-date=2016-12-10}}
2019 – Solo Booth with Lulu, Mexico City, NADA, Miami
2019 – Psychic Novellas, Lyles & King, New York City, New York{{Cite web|title=Aaron Gilbert - Psychic Novellas —|url=https://lylesandking.com/psychic-novellas|access-date=2021-11-09|website=lylesandking.com|language=en-US}}
2021 – 1981–2001, Martin Wong / Aaron Gilbert, P·P·O·W. Gallery, New York
2021 – Chris Sharp Gallery, Los Angeles, California

Awards

2010 – Rosenthal Family Foundation Award for Painting
2015 – Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Biennial Award{{Cite web|url=https://www.artforum.com/news/louis-comfort-tiffany-foundation-unveils-2015-biennial-grant-awardees-60467|title=Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Unveils 2015 Biennial Grant Awardees|website=www.artforum.com|date=June 7, 2016 |language=en-US|access-date=2018-07-11}}