Dewey Crumpler
Dewey Crumpler (b. 1949, Magnolia, AK) examines the lure of contemporary pop culture in his mixed media works, which explore global consumer capitalism. Crumpler got his start in the city as a muralist, studying under master teachers Pablo Esteban O’Higgins and David Alfaro Siqueiros. For Dewey, murals are an urban tradition that blends public art, a people’s history, vivid color, and politics. In the late 1960s, when San Francisco’s George Washington High School’s mural “Life of Washington” was under fire from African-American students, a twentysomething Crumpler was tapped to create new murals in response. His paintings, a now iconic triptych of murals called Multi-Ethnic Heritage, are still at the high school. After over a decade of working as a muralist, he began to address slavery in America. In one extensive body of work, Crumpler used tulips as a symbol for African bodies, both of which were taken out of their original environment and shipped around the world. Dewey Crumpler's Visual Rhythm series examines powerful structures that frame social interpretations. He also exposes the malleability that leads to empowerment and liberation. Re-contextualizing symbols such as the tulip and top hat, Crumpler examines Black consciousness, transforming space and time.
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Tulip Memories II, c. 1993-1998
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In the Moment, 2023
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Black on Black and Silver, 2022-23
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Pink and Blue Green Mist, 2022-23
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Beige Pop, 2022
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Bolts, 2022
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Inside, Outside, 2022
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Surf's Up, 2022
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Three Inches, 2022
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Bitches Brewing In Space, 2020
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Bright Moments, 2020
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In the Deep, 2020
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Opaqueness, 2020
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Space. Deep., 2019
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Grey Tilt, 2018
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Indigo Mist, 2018
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Triangle, 2018
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Untitled (Comings and Goings), 2018
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Green Bananas, 2017
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Layer One, 2009
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Layer Seventeen, 2009
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Layer Sixteen, 2009
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Layer Twenty, 2009
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Layer Twenty One, 2009
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Layer Two, 2009
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Yellow Bullseye One, 2009
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Cerulean, 2008
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Layer Eight, 2008
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Layer Fifteen , 2008
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Layer Fourteen, 2008
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Layer Nine, 2008
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Layer Ten, 2008
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Cerulean Blues Mix on Distilled Off White Background, 2007
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Crimson, 2007
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Basic Black, 2006
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Metta #10, 2000
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Metta #6, 1999
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Metta #8, 1998
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Metta #9, 1998
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Time Codes, 1998
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Water Mix, 1998
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Untitled, Tulips 5, 1996
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Tulip Memories III, 1995
Dewey Crumpler (b. 1949, Magnolia, AK) examines the lure of contemporary pop culture in his mixed media works, which explore global consumer capitalism. Crumpler got his start in the city as a muralist, studying under master teachers Pablo Esteban O’Higgins and David Alfaro Siqueiros. For Dewey, murals are an urban tradition that blends public art, a people’s history, vivid color, and politics. In the late 1960s, when San Francisco’s George Washington High School’s mural “Life of Washington” was under fire from African-American students, a twentysomething Crumpler was tapped to create new murals in response. His paintings, a now iconic triptych of murals called Multi-Ethnic Heritage, are still at the high school. After over a decade of working as a muralist, he began to address slavery in America. In one extensive body of work, Crumpler used tulips as a symbol for African bodies, both of which were taken out of their original environment and shipped around the world. Dewey Crumpler's n Visual Rhythm series examines powerful structures that frame social interpretations. He also exposes the malleability that leads to empowerment and liberation. Re-contextualizing symbols such as the tulip and top hat, Crumpler examines Black consciousness, transforming space and time.
Dewey Crumpler is an Associate Professor of Painting at the San Francisco Art Institute, where he taught Kehinde Wiley and Deborah Roberts. Upcoming exhibitions include Dewey Crumpler: Crossings at the Richmond Art Center, a 15-year survey including over 120 of his works. He is in the permanent collections of the Oakland Museum of California; the Triton Museum of Art, CA; and the California African American Museum. Digital images of his murals were included in the 2017 Tate Modern’s Soul of a Nation. He received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Grant, a Flintridge Foundation Award, and the Fleishhacker Foundation Fellowship Eureka Award. Crumpler lives and works in Berkeley and San Francisco, CA.
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Dewey Crumpler at Jenkins Johnson
Renny Pritkin, SquareCylinder, March 10, 2023 -
What to see in San Francisco galleries this month
Max Blue, San Francisco Examiner, March 3, 2023 -
Art week shines as S.F. artists recover from weather’s wallop
Tony Bravo, SF Chronicle, January 22, 2023 -
Dewey Crumpler | RICHMOND ART CENTER
Gabrielle Selz, Artforum, September 1, 2022 -
Dewey Crumpler and Saidiya Hartman: Artist on Writers | Writers on Artists
ARTFORUM, August 10, 2022 -
The urgent art of Dewey Crumpler
Anand Giridharadas, The.Ink, June 7, 2022
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Summertime...
Wesaam Al-Badry, Kevin Cole, Dewey Crumpler, Alex Jackson, Wycliffe Mundopa, Gordon Parks, and Raelis Vasquez 8 Jul - 25 Aug 2023Jenkins Johnson Gallery is pleased to announce Summertime..., a cross-generational and multi-cultural exhibition featuring Wesaam Al-Badry, Kevin Cole, Dewey Crumpler, Alex Jackson, Wycliffe Mundopa, Gordon Parks, and Raelis Vasquez. Works...Read more -
In Space Time
Dewey Crumpler 4 Mar - 29 Apr 2023Jenkins Johnson Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition of Dewey Crumpler's work titled In Space Time. In Space Time represents a component of a four-part, 30-year exploration of...Read more -
Transcontinental Dialogues
20 Jan - 30 Apr 2022Jenkin Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, is thrilled to present Transcontinental Dialogues, featuring the work of Dewey Crumpler, Wadsworth Jarrell, Alex Jackson, Blessing Ngobeni, and Raelis Vasquez. The exhibition will be...Read more -
What's It All About
Anthony Olubunmi Akinbola, Patrick Alston, Carmen Neely, Esteban Ramón Pérez, Emma Soucek, Jason Stopa, Dewey Crumpler and Lisa Corinne Davis 17 Jul - 28 Aug 2021By Appointment Only: Jenkins Johnson Projects, New York, is pleased to present What’s It All About. A group exhibition featuring the works Anthony Olubunmi Akinbola, Patrick Alston, Carmen Neely, Esteban Ramón...Read more
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Frieze New York
New York, NY 1 - 5 May 2024Jenkins Johnson Gallery presents Bay Area artist Dewey Crumpler: Exploration of Two Objects a solo exhibition of a four-part, thirty-year expression of tulips and the...Read more -
FOG Design+Art
San Francisco, CA 18 - 21 Jan 2024Jenkins Johnson will present eleven artists of the African Diaspora that include works by Adrian Burrell, Renee Cox, Dewey Crumpler, David Driskell, Lola Flash, Violet...Read more -
Art Basel | Miami Beach
Miami, FL 6 - 10 Dec 2023Jenkins Johnson Gallery will participate in Art Basel Miami Beach, December 8 - 10, 2023 Booth B31. We will feature artists that explore social and political issues of the African Diaspora by connecting past and current moments: Mary Lovelace O'Neal, Wadsworth Jarrell, Gordon Parks, Ming Smith, Patrick Alston, Adrian Burrell, Dewey Crumper, Lisa Corinne Davis, Violet Fields, Alex Jackson, Blessing Ngobeni, Gregory Rick, Enrico Riley, and Raelis Vasquez. Jenkins Johnson Gallery will be participating in the Kabinett sector with a solo presentation of works on paper by Mary Lovelace O'Neal, featuring her iconic Lampblack (1970's) and Desert Women (1990's) series. In the Lampblack drawings she layers black charcoal and pastel, allowing slivers of negative space to invade the surface. These drawings speak to her affair with an "uncluttered minimalist viewpoint", invoking both a cultural and aesthetic sentiment. In Desert Women series, Lovelace O'Neal portrays garments worn in the Sahara Desert in Egypt and the Atacama Desert in Chile. She studied with master printmaker James Lesene Wells and at The Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop. Lovelace O'Neal creates based on feeling and perception, forming moments of fleeting light. Her work is in museums including the Art Institute of Chicago, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Baltimore Museum, DeYoung Museum, and Brooklyn Museum. She has an upcoming solo exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in Spring 2024.Read more -
Art Basel
Basel, Switzerland 13 - 18 Jun 2023Jenkins Johnson Gallery is excited to announce its participation in the 2023 edition of Art Basel. Our booth will be located at C11, the fair...Read more -
EXPO Chicago
Chicago, IL 13 - 16 Apr 2023Jenkins Johnson Gallery is pleased to announce its participation in the 2023 edition of EXPO Chicago which will take place at the Navy Pier's Festival...Read more -
FOG Design+Art
San Francisco, CA 18 - 22 Jan 2023Jenkins Johnson Gallery was pleased to present Dewey Crumpler: Tulip Memories, a solo presentation at FOG Design + Art. The fair took place January 19...Read more -
FOG Design + Art
San Francisco, CA 19 - 23 Jan 2022Jenkins Johnson Gallery exhibited at FOG Design + Art, which occured January 19-23, 2022 at Fort Mason Center. We presented the works of Dewey Crumpler,...Read more -
Art Basel Miami Beach
Miami, FL 1 - 4 Dec 2021Jenkins Johnson will present artists who explore social and political issues of the Black Diaspora by bridging historical and contemporary moments: Jae and Wadsworth Jarrell,...Read more -
The Armory Show
New York, NY 9 - 12 Sep 2021Jenkins Johnson Gallery was pleased to participate in The Armory Show 2021 at the Javits Center from September 9th - 12th. We presented a selection...Read more -
Frieze New York
New York, NY 5 - 9 May 2021Jenkins Johnson presented artists who explore social and political issues of the Diaspora by bridging past and contemporary moments: Wadsworth Jarrell, Gordon Parks, Ming Smith,...Read more -
EXPO Chicago
Chicago, IL 8 - 12 Apr 2021Jenkins Johnson Gallery was proud to participate in EXPO CHGO ONLINE 2021. Our presentation, Reflections, featured the work of Dewey Crumpler, Lisa Corinne Davis, Alex...Read more -
FIAC
Online Viewing Room 4 - 7 Mar 2021Jenkins Johnson Gallery was pleased to participte in FIAC's Online Viewing Rooms 2021. We presented a selection of works by Dewey Crumpler, Lisa Corinne Davis,...Read more -
South South Veza
Online Viewing Room 23 Feb - 7 Mar 2021Jenkins Johnson Gallery was proud to participate in South South Veza. The virtual platform was live from February 23, 2021 at 1pm GMT with a...Read more -
Conversations on Culture #19
Justice Exhibition at Marin MoCA: Wesaam Al-Badry, Nyame Brown, Dewey Crumpler, Erica Deeman, Rodney Ewing, Mildred Howard, Lava Thomas, and Lewis Watts 20 Nov 2020Friday, November 20th, 3pm EST / 12pm PST, was our nineteenth installment of our digital series, Conversations on Culture. Artists Wesaam Al-Badry, Nyame Brown, Dewey...Read more -
Conversations on Culture #18
Dewey Crumpler in Conversation with Karen Jenkins-Johnson 16 Oct 2020On October 16th, 2020, our 18th installment of Conversations on Culture took place. Dewey Crumpler was in conversation with Karen Jenkins-Johnson featuring an introduction by...Read more -
Frieze London
London, England 7 - 16 Oct 2020Jenkins Johnson’s artists explore social, environmental and political issues, connecting past and present moments. Twentieth century and contemporary artists are: Kwame Brathwaite, Lisa Corrine Davis,...Read more
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Frieze New York
New York, NY 1 - 5 May 2024Jenkins Johnson Gallery presents Bay Area artist Dewey Crumpler: Exploration of Two Objects a solo exhibition of a four-part, thirty-year expression of tulips and the...Read more -
FOG Design+Art
San Francisco, CA 18 - 21 Jan 2024Jenkins Johnson will present eleven artists of the African Diaspora that include works by Adrian Burrell, Renee Cox, Dewey Crumpler, David Driskell, Lola Flash, Violet...Read more -
Art Basel | Miami Beach
Miami, FL 6 - 10 Dec 2023Jenkins Johnson Gallery will participate in Art Basel Miami Beach, December 8 - 10, 2023 Booth B31. We will feature artists that explore social and political issues of the African Diaspora by connecting past and current moments: Mary Lovelace O'Neal, Wadsworth Jarrell, Gordon Parks, Ming Smith, Patrick Alston, Adrian Burrell, Dewey Crumper, Lisa Corinne Davis, Violet Fields, Alex Jackson, Blessing Ngobeni, Gregory Rick, Enrico Riley, and Raelis Vasquez. Jenkins Johnson Gallery will be participating in the Kabinett sector with a solo presentation of works on paper by Mary Lovelace O'Neal, featuring her iconic Lampblack (1970's) and Desert Women (1990's) series. In the Lampblack drawings she layers black charcoal and pastel, allowing slivers of negative space to invade the surface. These drawings speak to her affair with an "uncluttered minimalist viewpoint", invoking both a cultural and aesthetic sentiment. In Desert Women series, Lovelace O'Neal portrays garments worn in the Sahara Desert in Egypt and the Atacama Desert in Chile. She studied with master printmaker James Lesene Wells and at The Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop. Lovelace O'Neal creates based on feeling and perception, forming moments of fleeting light. Her work is in museums including the Art Institute of Chicago, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Baltimore Museum, DeYoung Museum, and Brooklyn Museum. She has an upcoming solo exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in Spring 2024.Read more -
Art Basel
Basel, Switzerland 13 - 18 Jun 2023Jenkins Johnson Gallery is excited to announce its participation in the 2023 edition of Art Basel. Our booth will be located at C11, the fair...Read more -
EXPO Chicago
Chicago, IL 13 - 16 Apr 2023Jenkins Johnson Gallery is pleased to announce its participation in the 2023 edition of EXPO Chicago which will take place at the Navy Pier's Festival...Read more -
FOG Design+Art
San Francisco, CA 18 - 22 Jan 2023Jenkins Johnson Gallery was pleased to present Dewey Crumpler: Tulip Memories, a solo presentation at FOG Design + Art. The fair took place January 19...Read more -
FOG Design + Art
San Francisco, CA 19 - 23 Jan 2022Jenkins Johnson Gallery exhibited at FOG Design + Art, which occured January 19-23, 2022 at Fort Mason Center. We presented the works of Dewey Crumpler,...Read more -
Art Basel Miami Beach
Miami, FL 1 - 4 Dec 2021Jenkins Johnson will present artists who explore social and political issues of the Black Diaspora by bridging historical and contemporary moments: Jae and Wadsworth Jarrell,...Read more -
The Armory Show
New York, NY 9 - 12 Sep 2021Jenkins Johnson Gallery was pleased to participate in The Armory Show 2021 at the Javits Center from September 9th - 12th. We presented a selection...Read more -
Frieze New York
New York, NY 5 - 9 May 2021Jenkins Johnson presented artists who explore social and political issues of the Diaspora by bridging past and contemporary moments: Wadsworth Jarrell, Gordon Parks, Ming Smith,...Read more -
EXPO Chicago
Chicago, IL 8 - 12 Apr 2021Jenkins Johnson Gallery was proud to participate in EXPO CHGO ONLINE 2021. Our presentation, Reflections, featured the work of Dewey Crumpler, Lisa Corinne Davis, Alex...Read more -
FIAC
Online Viewing Room 4 - 7 Mar 2021Jenkins Johnson Gallery was pleased to participte in FIAC's Online Viewing Rooms 2021. We presented a selection of works by Dewey Crumpler, Lisa Corinne Davis,...Read more -
South South Veza
Online Viewing Room 23 Feb - 7 Mar 2021Jenkins Johnson Gallery was proud to participate in South South Veza. The virtual platform was live from February 23, 2021 at 1pm GMT with a...Read more -
Frieze London
London, England 7 - 16 Oct 2020Jenkins Johnson’s artists explore social, environmental and political issues, connecting past and present moments. Twentieth century and contemporary artists are: Kwame Brathwaite, Lisa Corrine Davis,...Read more