Open Air: Abstract Artist Alteronce Gumby Shapes the Next Decade

With Open Air, the Gantt Center hosts a monthly series of virtual studio visits and intimate conversations with Black artists across the globe.

Alteronce Gumby is a multi-disciplinary abstract artist whose work explores the visual and societal references of color and form. Listed by Daily Collector as one of 20 painters who are shaping the next decade, Open Air host and curator Dexter Wimberly Included Gumby in the 2020 Gantt Center exhibition Painting Is Its Own Country, “... a snapshot of powerful work being made by a generation of emerging artists, as well as several well-known practitioners in the field.”

Join the conversation as Wimberly and Gumby explore the artist’s longtime thematic considerations, his unique use of materials and his commitment to experimentation.

How To Participate

This free virtual program will be streamed on the Gantt Center's official YouTube channel.

Alteronce Gumby (1985, Harrisburg, PA) is an artist and local of New York City. After earning his BFA at Hunter College in New York, Gumby received an MFA in Painting and Printmaking from the Yale School of Art where he was awarded the Robert Reed Memorial Scholarship. Perhaps best known for his layered monochromes, Gumby's paintings focus on representation of the self and subvert the traditional understanding of light and color through nuanced application of tonal changes directly with the artist's fingers and hands. His practice also includes ceramics, installation and performance.

Gumby has participated in numerous international artist residencies including Bode Projects' Berlin artist-in-residence program (2021), the Rauschenberg Residency (2019), London Summer Intensive (2016), 6BASE (2016), and as the 2016 recipient of the Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship and year-long residency at the Fondation des Étas-Unis in Paris. In 2015, he participated in Summer Academy in Salzburg, Austria and was granted the AAF Seebacher Prize for Fine Arts as well as the Dumfries House Residency, in Ayrshire, Scotland, UK.

Among others, Gumby's work has been featured in solo exhibitions at Parrasch/ Heijnen Gallery, Los Angeles; False Flag, Charles Moffett Gallery and Long Gallery – all in New York; – and at Fondation des États-Unis, Paris, France. In 2021, he participated in a group show organized by artist Rashid Johnson at Hauser & Wirth Southampton, NY.

Watch an excerpt of the artist in the 2020 documentary, Artists in NYC.

Learn more about Alteronce Gumby at alteroncegumby.com.

Dexter Wimberly is an independent curator and entrepreneur who has organized exhibitions and developed programs with galleries and institutions throughout the world, including The Third Line in Dubai, Koki Arts in Tokyo and the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City. His exhibitions have been reviewed and featured in publications including the New York Times, Artforum and Hyperallergic.

Wimberly has also served as Director of Strategic Planning at Independent Curators International in New York City. Prior to his curatorial career, Wimberly was the managing partner and CEO of August Bishop advertising agency, representing a diverse array of clients including Adidas, The Coca-Cola Company and BBO. In 2018, Wimberly co-founded ART WORLD CONFERENCE, a professional development company for visual artists and arts professionals, and serves as its CEO.

Open Air is a monthly series of virtual studio visits and intimate conversations with Black contemporary artists across the United States. Join us monthly as we celebrate a featured artist in one of our latest exhibitions.