ABOUT

Jenkins Johnson Gallery, founded in San Francisco in 1996, is a member of the ADAA and represents international contemporary artists working across disciplines. We exhibit the works of 20th century masters including Jae Jarrell, Wadsworth Jarrell, Mary Lovelace O’Neal, Gordon Parks, and Robert Colescott. Our program also includes established, mid-career and emerging artists, such as Enrico Riley, Alex Jackson, and Patrick Alston. Our artists’ works are in many museums around the world, and they have participated in international invitational exhibitions and have been reviewed in many major periodicals. We are a 100% Black-owned gallery that is expanding the art canon to include overlooked and under-represented artists of the African Diaspora. Led by an experienced Black American gallerist, Karen Jenkins-Johnson, the gallery has developed a diverse curatorial and collector audience. Significant artists of historical importance such as Roy DeCarava and Aubrey Williams were exhibited by Jenkins Johnson before they achieved international acclaim, helping them receive the recognition they deserve.

The gallery also champions emerging artists, black curators, and writers through Jenkins Johnson Projects, founded in 2017 in Brooklyn, NY, across from Prospect Park and near the Brooklyn Museum. We provide a space for under-represented creatives and have emerged as a hub for critically acclaimed curators and artists of color. Project curators have included Derrick Adams, Antwaun Sargent, Larry Ossei-Mensah, and Kenturah Davis. Leading emerging artists have exhibited at the project space, including Chase Hall, Vaughn Spann, and Carmen Neely. Conversations have been led by local curators such as Connie Choi of the Studio Museum in Harlem, and we have hosted special programs for local groups.