Jay Gaskill (B. 1980, Silver Spring, MD) is an artist/curator based in Cathedral City, CA. Jay earned an MFA from Hunter College and a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He recently took time off from exhibiting to start a family and a new life in the California desert with his wife, Erin. His new lo-fi abstract paintings reflect the freedom and excitement that with a mid-life and mid-career reinvention.
As a curator, he is most well known for his social-media-based projects: Air In Space and The Drawing Exchange. Air In Space functioned as an Instagram-only gallery for emerging artists. The Drawing Exchange is/was/might-be-again a mediated exchange of 2D works amongst artists.
Jay's work has been exhibited on both coasts, and featured in publications such as Workhouse Rising, Maake Magazine, and ArtMaze Mag. As a curator, he has been interviewed by ArtNet News, and curated “Golden States”, an exhibition of paintings and weavings for SPRING/BREAK Art Show (Los Angeles, CA).
Personal
Born - Silver Spring, MD
Lives & Works - Cathedral City, CA
Education
2011 - MFA in Painting, Hunter College, New York, NY
2002 - BFA in Painting, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
Solo & Two Person Exhibitions
2022 - Jay Gaskill & Sadia Fakih (presented by PARADICE PALASE), Future Fair, New York, NY
2020 - Variation In Production, Ampersand Gallery, Portland, OR
2018 - Air Raid, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA
2018 - In No Time, One River Gallery, Portland, OR
2016 - Mise-en-Abyme (w/ Alyse Ronayne), Underdonk, Brooklyn, NY
2014 - Mesh Point, One River Gallery, Englewood, NJ
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 - A Line to You, curated by Christian Rogers, Noon Projects, Los Angeles, CA
2023 - Lullabies for a daydream, curated by Hannah Antalek, PARADICE PALASE, online exhibition
2020 - Organic, Columbia Center for the Arts, Hood River, OR
2019 - This Is Our Summer Group Show, HOLDING Contemporary, Portland, OR
2019 - Em Dash, Ampersand Gallery, Portland, OR
2013 - Same Same but Different, Guest Spot at the Reinstitute, Baltimore, MD
2012 - Two River, One River Gallery, Englewood, NJ
2012 - Same Same but Different, Parallel Art Space, Ridgewood, NY
2012 - Same Same but Different, SOIL Gallery, Seattle, WA
Curatorial Exhibitions
2022 - Golden States, SPRING/BREAK Art Show, Los Angeles, CA
2021 - Quiet Fire, an online exhibition to benefit Seeding Sovereignty, presented in collaboration with Far x Wide
Press
2024 - "Interview: Jay Gaskill", by Kat Ryals, Paradice Palase
2024 - Workhouse Rising #2, pp 41 - 42.
2021 - Interview with Jen Hitchings
2020 - "‘The Future of the Art World Is Direct-to-Consumer’: As the Market Shifts Online, a Growing Number of Artists Are Thriving Without the Middle Man" by Sarah Cascone, Artnet News
2018 - "The Art Journey of Jay Gaskill" by Matt Ross, One River Blog
2018 - "Jay Gaskill" edited by Maria Zemtsova, Art Maze Mag
2016 - "Jay Gaskill" by Emily Burns, Maake
Artist Talks
2018 - Washington State University, Vancouver, WA
2013 - Queensborough Community College, Flushing, NY
2013 - Guest Spot at the Reinstitute, Baltimore, MD
2012 - One River Gallery, Englewood, NJ
2012 - University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Awards
2013 - Emergency Opportunity Grant, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, NY
2011 - Judy and Arthur Zankel MFA Award in Art, Hunter College, NY
Apparel
2016 - "Starflower", Cotton Bureau