Born and raised in Thibodaux, Louisiana, Jammie Holmes is known for his paintings that portray intimate and poignant scenes of distinctly American communities, families, and traditions. Holmes draws heavily on his own recollections to depict the stories and experiences of Black life in the deep American South, capturing moments of celebration and struggle. The artist, who works intuitively and without formal artistic training, creates expressive tableaux that incorporate portraiture, symbols, text, and objects to reveal universal truths through personal narratives. 

Jammie Holmes is a self-taught painter. Following his graduation from high school, Holmes spent more than a decade working in an oil field. He relocated to Dallas in 2016. His work has most recently been presented in exhibitions at Library Street Collective, Detroit; Deitch Projects, Los Angeles; Marianne Boesky, New York; Nassima-Landau Projects, Tel Aviv; Dallas Museum of Art; and Dallas Contemporary, among others. His work is also included in the permanent collections of the Aïshti Foundation, Brooklyn Museum, Dallas Museum of Art, Hammer Museum, ICA Miami, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, New Orleans Museum of Art, Perez Museum of Art, X Museum, and The Xiao Museum of Contemporary Art.

About the program: The Visiting Artist and Scholar Program aims to reinforce the mission of the Art and Art History Department by inviting leading artists and scholars to present an array of artistic practices, historical discourse and divergent perspectives that can increase access to creativity and forge new territories between the arts and broader cultural movements.