MORGAN GRIGSBY

 Morgan Grigsby (b. 2001) lives and works in Texas, and is known for his contemporary realist oil paintings that are inspired by his personal experiences growing up on the Gulf Coast as a black Texan. He has exhibited in solo exhibitions such as The Spellerberg Project gallery in Lockhart, Texas (2024) and at The Calaboose African American History Museum in San Marcos, Texas (2023). His numerous group exhibitions include The Big Show, at Lawndale Art Center in Houston, Texas (2023), Assemblage, at The University of Houston Clear Lake Art Gallery in Houston, Texas (2023) and, the student juried exhibition at Texas State Galleries in San Marcos, Texas (2021- 2023). Grigsby was also honored with the Best in Show award in the student juried exhibition (2023) and The Special Merit award at The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (2018).

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I create paintings of memories from my life on the southern Gulf Coastal Plains. The subjects in my work are people within my community engaging in outdoor activities while embracing a transformation of contemporary black culture. My work also explores the ephemeral effects of light on the Gulf Coast, with the landscape being an integral part of Texas history.

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My work focuses on the history of the changing landscape that I spent most of my life on. I grew up on the outskirts of a small town near Houston called Sugarland. It was established as a company town in the nineteenth century to produce sugarcane within a humid subtropical environment. Unlike other regions of Texas, this area is known for its sweltering summer days obscured by haze and sea fog. In the past, the climate was notoriously described as a “Hell hole on the Brazos [river]” because of the unpleasant living conditions. As an adult, I learned that the town's success was made possible through a secret exploitation of black labor used during the Reconstruction era. With this information, it became imperative for me to uphold my ethnic image by painting portraits of young black Americans to challenge the history of inequalities in Texas.

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My work exemplifies the importance of home and how the suburbanization of land that was once deemed untamable transformed my culture as a black Texan who still lives in the South. I use oil paint to create imaginative color schemes of swampy colors and render the subtle nuances of eerie light and tonal values on canvas, embracing a delicate interaction between my subjects and this ominous environment they exist in. The emphasis on lighting guides the overall mood of each painting I make. The fleeting memories of home that was once the center of my world, paired with the temporality of light, contribute to the inarguable sublime of the landscape, and embody feelings of alienation and privacy.