The Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University will open 'Jenna Gribbon: Entwined' on August 19, bringing together more than 40 works from 2001 to the present in what the museum describes as the first institutional survey of the painter. The exhibition will remain on view through January 3, 2027, in the museum’s Lois Foster Wing in Waltham, Massachusetts.
According to the museum, the survey traces the evolution of Gribbon’s figurative painting from early experimental work to new canvases made specifically for this presentation. Gribbon, born in 1978 in Knoxville, Tennessee, is best known for intimate portrayals of family, friends and especially her wife, musician Mackenzie Scott, who performs as TORRES. The Rose says her paintings blur boundaries between artist and subject, viewer and participant, and observation and performance.
Organized chronologically and thematically, 'Entwined' focuses on how relationships shape Gribbon’s paintings and the way identity is formed through connection with others. The museum’s materials emphasize the recurring presence of love, desire, memory and perception in her work, describing those themes as transformed by luminous color, inventive compositions and emotionally charged imagery. The exhibition also expands beyond readings of Gribbon’s paintings as depictions of queer domestic life, instead framing reciprocity, care and radical empathy as central to the work.
The Rose’s announcement positions the exhibition as a major moment in the museum’s 2026 season. A reopening email from the institution says the museum will return on August 19 with three new exhibitions, including 'Jenna Gribbon: Entwined', 'ChromaForm', and 'En/Lighten: Material & Metaphor', while Yinka Shonibare: 'Sanctuary' is already scheduled to continue through January 3, 2027. The museum says admission is always free.
The Gribbon survey is co-curated by Chad Sirois and Dr. Gannit Ankori, who serves as Henry and Lois Foster Director and Chief Curator at the Rose and is also professor of fine arts and women’s, gender and sexuality studies at Brandeis. The exhibition’s support includes lead support from Further Forward Foundation, major support from the Wolf Kahn Foundation, and additional support from Heather and Theodore Karatz.
The Rose’s exhibition page says 'Jenna Gribbon: Entwined' will be presented in the museum’s Lois Foster Wing and will feature works spanning two decades, including pieces from the early 2000s and new works created for the survey. The museum is currently closed for summer installation and says its galleries will reopen on August 19.
