Jenna Gribbon’s (b. 1978, Knoxville, Tennessee) oil paintings constitute an important new entry in the long lineage of figurative art, extending its narrative possibilities to explore the act of looking. Her vivid portraits, frequently nudes or partial nudes, depict those closest to her, and sometimes the artist herself, in candid poses, during uncanny moments. Replete with saturated colors—and spot lit in awkward, uncomfortable, or humorous positions—the protagonists are often seen looking directly at the artist, blurring the line between observer and the observed. By including her own image in her paintings, whether it’s her legs brushed up against her partner’s or her dramatic shadow lurking in the foreground, Gribbon becomes both actor and director in an unfolding storyline that is equal parts comedic, tender, fantastical, and dark. She uses scale to decipher between true-to-life and constructed scenes. In her larger paintings, Gribbon employs strategically placed props—mirrors, blindfolds, clamp lights, colored gels, green screens—to explore different types of mediation that affect image consumption and investigate the power dynamics between subject, artist, and viewer. Her recent work most prominently features her partner, Mackenzie Scott, whose recurrence both personalizes and simultaneously establishes her as a kind of avatar; shifting the focus of the painting away from the figure and toward the way the figure is framed. Gribbon’s paintings often begin as a photo taken on her phone, forging a fluid relationship between photography and painting, the real and the surreal, and between the ephemerality of phone photography and the enduring quality of oil paint. By painting otherwise fleeting scenes, the artist adds texture, depth, and a sense of permanency to these temporal images, highlighting themes of pleasure, joy, and expanding the lexicon of queer iconography.

詹娜·格里本的个展举办机构包括：马拉莫蒂收藏馆，雷焦·艾米利亚，意大利（2022–2023）。他参与的群展包括：“活著的历史：酷儿的视点与古典大师”，弗里克收藏馆，纽约（2022）；“我将把你深藏于心”，旗帜艺术基金，纽约（2021）；“颜料，或称其为血液：当代绘画中的女性、情感和欲望”，华沙现代艺术博物馆，波兰（2019）。她的作品被永久收藏于：海牙艺术博物馆，荷兰；布兰特基金会，纽约；达拉斯艺术博物馆；玛乔丽·巴里克艺术博物馆，拉斯维加斯，内华达州；新奥尔良艺术博物馆，路易斯安那州；普法尔茨博物馆，海德堡，德国；鲁贝尔博物馆，迈阿密；旗帜艺术基金，纽约。格里本目前在纽约生活和工作。