Mark Thomas Gibson

Early Retirement is a narrative that “revolves around Mr. Wolfson, a werewolf and Doomsday prophet in New York City’s street prophecy scene, and The Drummer, one of the three heralds of the Apocalypse. One day, The Drummer learns that the Truth has been delivered to Mr. Wolfson. Things quickly spiral out of control, leading to a three-way standoff between the Will of the People, the Will of Government and the Will of God.” This work was influenced by the American presidential election of 2016, and his question regarding quest for utopia, and ways to join forces to go against the adversity in the United States of America. His solo exhibition, Early Retirement, showed in Fredericks & Freiser, included installation of black and white ink drawings and colorized reproductions as acrylic paintings.

Gibson focuses on using the language of comic as a tool for social justice. His work involves graphic novels, consisting of black and white pen drawings, and colorful paintings developed from imageries chosen from his books. Gibson's artist statement describes his artistic choices and vision: “I look at American culture from a multipartite viewpoint as an artist—as a black male, a professor, an American history buff and comic book nerd. These myriad of often colliding perspectives fuel my exploration of American culture through the high and low visual languages of painting and comics to reveal a narrative that spells out our fabricated destruction. The black ink and strong color in my work create stark contrasts in which positive and negative space define the composition. I rely on a minimal aesthetic, playing off of both fine art and the comic book vernacular of sequential narrative. In all the works, I try to shine a light on the grim and gritty social realities of contemporary America.”

Gibson received his B.F.A. from The Cooper Union and his M.F.A. from Yale School of Art in painting and printmaking in 2013, where he received the Ely Harwood Schless Memorial Fund Award.

Ely Harwood Schless Memorial Fund Award 2013, Yale School of Art Yale Norfolk Assistantship 2012, awarded by Samuel Messer, Associate Dean

Mark Thomas Gibson (born 1980, Miami, FL) is an American visual artist working in painting, print, ink, and watercolor. Gibson's work explores Black representation in the United States using the medium of comics.

The collection provides a perspective of black and non-black artists and publishers who work to draw attention to the black experience in American culture and history from 1912 to 2016 through contemporary works of art and historical printed media.