Jackie Gendel paints colorful, narrative compositions that blur the distinction between figuration and abstraction. Embracing a fluid approach to her work, Gendel develops scenes, characters, and situations via intuitive mark-making, color application, and chance creations by painting over older works or the same image in different colors or sizes. These procedures mirror the evolving identities of her painted characters, allowing her theatrical narratives to unfold as she paints.

Jackie Gendel was born in 1973 in Houston, TX, and lives in Providence, RI. Gendel received her BFA from Washington University in St. Louis, MO (1996) and her MFA from Yale University in New Haven, CT (1998).

Gendel has mounted solo and two-person exhibitions at Inman Gallery in Houston, TX (2023); SOCO Gallery in Charlotte, NC (2023, 2020); Philip Martin Gallery (2021), Tif Sigfrids in Athens, GA (2020); and Thomas Erben Gallery, New York City, NY (2019, 2016).

Her work has been shown in numerous group exhibitions, including Pocket Universe at Philip Martin Gallery in Los Angeles, CA (2023); Holly Coulis, Jackie Gendel, Pamela Jorden, Yoora Lee at Philip Martin Gallery in Los Angeles, CA (2022); 10 at Anton Kern Gallery (2018); Painting Forward at Thomas Erben Gallery in New York, NY (2016); The Guston Effect at Steven Zevitas Gallery in Boston, MA (2015); and Black / White at Ameringer | McEnery | YOHE, curated by Brian Alfred, in New York City, NY (2015).

The artist’s work has been written about in publications such as The New York Times (2019), Hyperallergic (2014), Modern Painters (2013), Artforum (2013), New York Magazine (2012), and The New York Times (2011), among others.