Artist Talk: Vaughn Spann in Conversation
Artist Talk: Vaughn Spann in Conversation
Join us for an engaging conversation with artist Vaughn Spann. Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Vaughn Spann: Allegories at the Tampa Museum of Art, this program offers an opportunity to hear the artist discuss his Marked Men series alongside his broader artistic practice and evolving body of work. Spann will be joined in conversation by Joanna Robotham, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Tampa Museum of Art.
Lectures are offered free with the cost of daily admission:
- Art+ Museum Members: Free
- Not-Yet-Members: $25
- College Students: Free
Born in 1992 in Florida, Vaughn Spann lives and works in New Jersey. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art from Rutgers University and a Master of Fine Arts in Painting & Printmaking from the Yale School of Art.
Moving fluidly between abstraction and figuration, Spann’s practice is devoted to investigating space, time, and memory. Drawing from diverse subjects including the deeply personal, he reconciles with his body within and beyond the studio. With a deep admiration for formalism, the artist approaches his paintings through the lens of color, line, and shape, grounded in the foundational acknowledgement that one’s subjectivity can’t simply be divorced from the studio.
For Spann, form provides a powerful vehicle for generating meaning. His work engages familiar symbols– from the X to the American flag– and transforms them into layered interrogations of history, power, and signification. These formal inquiries permeate throughout his paintings, symbolically reflecting his encounters with diverse people and places. Through his well-known stylistic separations, Spann continues to vigorously experiment with unconventional materials while expanding his personal and historical narratives.
Recent solo exhibitions include ‘Allegories’, Tampa Museum of Art, FL, US (2024); ‘Vaughn Spann: Lineage’, Samek Art Museum, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, US (2021); and ‘Vaughn Spann: Open Onto’, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO, US (2020). Spann has also participated in group shows at notable institutions such as the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts and Culture, Charlotte, NC, US (2026); the Museum of Art and Design Miami Dade College Freedom Tower, FL, US (2026); the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Seville, Spain (2026); the Bunker, Miami, FL, US (2025); the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice, New York, NY, US (2025); the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD), La Jolla, CA, US (2025); the Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY, US (2024); the Vanhaerents Art Collection, Tripostal, Lille, France (2023); and ICA Miami, FL, US (2022).
The artist’s work is present in many prestigious collections, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA, US; the Rubell Museum, Miami, FL, US; the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC, US; the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, NY, US; the Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL, US; the Brooklyn Museum, NY, US; the Bass Museum of Art, Miami, FL, US; the Birmingham Museum of Art, AL, US; the Perez Art Museum, Miami, FL, US; the Montclair Art Museum, NJ, US; the Indianapolis Museum of Art, IN, US; and the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA, US.
Image Caption: Vaughn Spann (American, b. 1992), Manifestations, 2023. Polymer paint and mixed media on wood panel. 120 x 120 inches. Courtesy the artist & David Castillo, Miami