Marcus Jahmal (b. 1990) lives and works in New York. He was raised in Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights neighborhood, growing up in a family with roots in the West Indies and American south. His paintings synthesize a diverse range of inspirations and autobiography, drawing from photographs, ancient rituals, and personal memories. Jahmal's works move fluidly between genres spanning architectural interiors and still life, as well as landscape and portraiture. Developing his compositions directly upon the surface of each canvas, Jahmal coaxes imaginary, yet uncannily familiar, scenes to life, exploring themes encompassing dreams and folkloric Americana, and the contemporary realities of gentrification and city dwelling. As Jahmal explains, “most of [my] figures have a personality and a link to real life; I'm interested in a kind of filtered realism”. Skulls, anthropomorphic creatures, rolling landscapes, thieves, card players, and policemen, occupy spaces that feel steeped in a collective memory at once primordial and precognitive of some future world where polymorphism reigns and metaphors are fluid. Marcus Jahmal has exhibited widely in the United States, Europe, and Asia. His inaugural monograph, Solid Ghosts,was published in 2018, and he has been the subject of a recent institutional solo exhibition at the Passerelle Centre d'art contemporain, in Brest, France.
Marcus Jahmal
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Marcus Jahmal, Canine, 2019
Oil on canvas
36 x 72 in
91,4 x 182,9 cm
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Marcus Jahmal, High Roller, 2019
Acrylic on linen
48 x 48 in
121,9 x 121,9 cm
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Marcus Jahmal, Thief in the Night, 2019
Acrylic on linen
182,9 x 152,4 cm
72 x 60 in -
Marcus Jahmal, Caballo blanco, 2019
Oil, acrylic and graphite on canvas
60 x 48 in
152,4 x 121,9 cm
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Marcus Jahmal, Untitled, 2018
Canvas head, acrylic, Map pins, Djembe
67,3 x 24,1 x 17,8 cm
26 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 7 inches -
Marcus Jahmal, Untitled, 2018
Canvas head, acrylic, Map pins, Djembe
67,3 x 24,1 x 17,8 cm
26 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 7 inches -
Marcus Jahmal, Untitled, 2018
Canvas head, acrylic, Map pins, Djembe
67,3 x 24,1 x 17,8 cm
26 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 7 inches -
Marcus Jahmal, Untitled, 2018
Canvas head, acrylic, Map pins, Djembe
67,3 x 24,1 x 17,8 cm
26 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 7 inches -
Marcus Jahmal, Untitled, 2018
Acrylic on paper
46 x 62 cm (framed)
18 1/8 x 24 3/8 inches (framed) -
Marcus Jahmal, Untitled, 2018
Acrylic on paper
46 x 62 cm (framed)
18 1/8 x 24 3/8 inches (framed) -
Marcus Jahmal, Untitled, 2018
Acrylic on paper
63 x 47 cm (framed)
24 3/4 x 18 1/2 inches (framed) -
Marcus Jahmal, Untitled, 2018
Acrylic on paper
47 x 63 cm (framed)
18 1/2 x 24 3/4 inches (framed) -
Marcus Jahmal, Crocodillo, 2017
Oil stick and acrylic on canvas
76,2 x 101,6 cm
30 x 40 inches
Signed on verso -
Marcus Jahmal, Confrontation, 2017
Oil stick and acrylic on canvas
121,9 x 152,4 cm
48 x 60 inches
Signed on verso -
Marcus Jahmal, Gato salvaje, 2018
Oil stick and acrylic on canvas
182,9 x 152,4 cm
72 x 60 inches
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Marcus Jahmal, Iron and Copper, 2017
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Marcus Jahmal, Mystical forest trooper, 2017
Acrylic on canvas
128,9 x 152,4 cm, 72 x 60 inches -
Gold and Oil, 2017
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Marcus Jahmal, VooDoo floater, 2017
Acrylic on canvas
121,9 x 91,4 cm
48 x 36 inches -
Marcus Jahmal, Kick in the Door, 2017
Acrylic on wood panel
76,2 x 50,8 cm
30 x 20 inches -
Marcus Jahmal, Dock at dusk, 2016
Oil on panel
152,4 x 152,4 cm
60 x 60 inches -
Marcus Jahmal, Our Ancestors Were Here, 2017
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Marcus Jahmal, Conscience, 2017-18
Oil stick and acrylic on canvas
121,9 x 152,4 cm
48 x 60 inches -
Marcus Jahmal, Lion study, 2018
Oil stick and acrylic on canvas
91,4 x 121,9 cm
36 x 48 inches -
Marcus Jahmal, Dazed, 2018
Oil stick and acrylic on canvas
121,9 x 152,4 cm
48 x 60 inches
Signed on verso -
Marcus Jahmal, Holographic Man, 2018
Oil stick and acrylic on canvas
182,9 x 152,4 cm
72 x 60 inches -
Marcus Jahmal, Ahnk, 2018
Oil stick and acrylic on canvas
121,9 x 152,4 cm
48 x 60 inches
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Marcus Jahmal, Spirit Animal, 2017
Oil stick and acrylic on canvas
121,9 x 91,4 cm
48 x 36
inches
Signed on verso -
Marcus Jahmal, Black hole, 2018
Oil stick and acrylic on canvas
91,4 x 76,2 cm
36 x 30 inches
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Marcus Jahmal, Reverse Migrate, 2017
Diptych, Oil stick and acrylic on canvas
152,4 x 243,8 cm / 152,4 x 121,9 cm each
60 x 96 inches / 60 x 48 inches each -
Marcus Jahmal, Solid Ghost, 2018
Oil stick and acrylic on canvas
182,9 x 152,4 cm
72 x 60 inches -
Marcus Jahmal, Coast Guard, 2017
Oil stick and acrylic on canvas
121,9 x 152,4 cm
48 x 60 inches
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Marcus Jahmal, Rice Farmer, 2018
Oil stick and acrylic on canvas
121,9 x 152,4 cm
48 x 60 inches
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Marcus Jahmal, Red Ibis, 2017
Oil stick and acrylic on canvas
152,4 x 121,9 cm
60 x 48 inches -
Marcus Jahmal, Polymorph, 2017
Acrylic and oil stick on canvas
91,4 x 121,9 cm
36 x 48 inches -
Marcus Jahmal, Bear Trap, 2017
Acrylic and oil stick on canvas
121,9 x 91,4 cm
48 x 36 inches
Exhibitions
Museum Exhibitions
Selected press
- Gabrielle Pharms, Chloe Shaar, and Destiny Randle, '12 ARTISTS RECOMMENDED BY THE RENOWNED NATHANIEL MARY QUINN & WIFE DONNA AUGUSTIN-QUINN', Edition Magazine, November 30, 2021 — 360.0 kB
- An Illustrated Guide to Spring’s Essential Reads - T Magazine, March 19, 2020 — 2.8 MB
- Charles SCHULTZ - Marcus Jahmal: Double Down - The Brooklyn Rail, October 16, 2019 — 1.2 MB
- Martha SCHWENDENER - New York Galleries: What to See Right Now - The New York Times, October 2, 2019 — 663.3 kB
- Loïc le GALL - Hot! Marcus Jahmal when night comes, we see more clearly. - Cura 32 Magazine. September 2019 — 2.0 MB
- Scott INDRISEK - Painter Marcus Jahmal Doubles Down - Garage - September 15, 2019 — 1.7 MB
- Louis BLOCK - Marcus Jahmal with Louis Block - Brooklyn Rail, June 2019 — 1.0 MB
- ‘Passerelle Centre d'art contemporain, Brest’, CNAP, June 2019 — 121.8 kB
- 'Brest. Marcus Jahmal... A star is born!', ouest-france.com, June 2019 — 213.9 kB
- Nate FREEMAN - Art Brussels Dares Collectors to Take Risks on Young Artists and Succeeds - Artsy, April 20th, 2018 — 345.3 kB
- What to See in Brussels Now - Mutualart, April 10th, 2018 — 315.0 kB
- Roberta SMITH - What to See in New York Art Galleries This Week. Marcus Jahmal - Art & Design, January 5, 2017 — 423.7 kB
- Antwaun SARGENT - The Human Price of Gentrification Emerges in a Brooklyn Installation - Creators, February 2nd, 2016 — 1.1 MB
- Branden JANESE - Painter Marcus Jahmal: No Place Like Home - Whitehot Magazine, January, 2016 — 13.3 MB
- - Brest. Marcus Jahmal... a star is born ! - Ouest France, June 10, 2019 — 525.9 kB