Directory

Jamey Grimes teaches courses in sculpture and museum studies. As a sculptor, Grimes explores the sometimes overwhelming and awe-inspiring relationship between viewer and nature in his larger-than-life sculptures, which often show the influence of his interest in biology. “The objects and environments that I create are fueled by encounters with natural forces, both real and imagined,” Grimes notes. With synthetic materials, often plastic, he manipulates them into forms that he hopes will “engulf the viewer in an experience that is simultaneously unsettling and serene. My intent is to remind one of their relationship and scale to the forces of nature.” Grimes uses synthetics materials because “they have been cleansed of nature’s direct influence and reset by human manufacturing processes. Through abstraction and re-interpretation, patterns emerge from the medium and quickly emulate more complex natural designs.”

Grimes has shown his artwork widely throughout the US; most recently, his sculpture Taraxacum was installed in the John and Joyce Caddell Sculpture Garden in the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. His largescale sculptures have been permanently installed in the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts; the Pinnacle Bank in Nashville, Tenn.; JW Marriott in Tampa, Fla.; the Pinellas County Health Department in Largo, Fla.; and at the Fairmont Chicago in the city’s Millennium Park. Other venues include 701 Center for Contemporary Art, Columbia, SC; Bo Bartlett Center, Columbus, Ga.; the Meridian (Miss.) Museum of Art; Kendall Galleries and the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts in Grand Rapids; FAT Village in Ft. Lauderdale and Sculpture Key West, Florida; Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts in Wilmington; and Whitespace Gallery in Atlanta, Ga.

In 2020, Grimes held a solo exhibition, Formicarium, at Jones-Carter Gallery in Lake City, SC. Other recent solo shows were at Southeastern Louisiana State University, Hammond; Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, Tenn.; Covenant Fine Arts Center in Grand Rapids, Mich.; North Floor Gallery, Huntsville, Ala; and Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, Ala.

Grimes was named the 2019 South Arts State Fellowship recipient for Alabama and awarded $5,000; and he was awarded the 2015 Visual Arts Educator of the Year by the Arts Council of Tuscaloosa. He has won Alabama State Council on the Arts Visual Arts Fellowships in 2020 and 2013. He won the 29th West Alabama Juried Art Show Purchase Prize (2013); the Purchase Award at the 39th Annual Bi-State Art Competition, Meridian Museum of Art, Meridian, MS (2012); and his work was selected for the 10th anniversary installation, 4 Bridges Arts Festival, First Tennessee Pavilion, Chattanooga, TN. Grimes was also the Guest Juror for the 2015 Orange Beach (AL) Arts Festival; he was the 2014 Creativity in Collaboration Grant recipient for Projection Mapping, with UA’s Creative Campus.

Recent selected installations, exhibitions reviews and news

2020

• Taraxacum, two-year installation, John and Joyce Caddell Sculpture Garden, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Ala., Mar. 20
• Formicarium, solo exhibition, Jones-Carter Gallery, Lake City, S.C., Jan. 31-Mar. 14

2019

• Interlaced: Jamey Grimes and Charlotte Wegrzynowski, group exhibition, Bagwell Center for Media and Art Gallery, Pellissippi State Community College, Knoxville, Tenn.

2018

• Raise 251, group exhibition, Alabama Contemporary Art Center, Mobile, Ala.
• Don’t Fence Me In, group exhibition, Stephen Smith Fine Art, Fairfield, Ala.
• We Are One, group exhibition, Stephen Smith Fine Art, Fairfield, Ala.
• Phase (Jan), Group Installation, Sassafras Park, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
• Roil, installation on loan, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Ala.

2017

• Eclipse, The New Gallery, Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, Tenn., AUG 28-SEP 21
• Connector Interview with Jamey Grimes by The New Gallery curator Michael Dickins
• Young Artist Initiative’s Complements & Dichotomies, Miami, Fla.

2016

• Aster, North Floor Gallery, Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment, Huntsville, Ala.
• Wash, solo exhibit, Glass Cube, Hotel Indigo, Athens, GA (scroll down to see two short videos)
• Wash, ArtsUP!, The Projects – FAT Village, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
  
• Chromatic Surfaces, Rick Snow & Jamey Grimes, Carroll Gallery, Tulane University, New Orleans, La.

2015

• The December Show, whitespec installation space, Whitespace Gallery, Atlanta, Ga.
• Celebrating Contemporary Art in Alabama: The Biennial 2015, Group Exhibit, Troy Pike Cultural Arts Center
• Roil, storefront exhibit, Whitespace Gallery, Atlanta, GA
• Eurydice, theater set design, Allen Bales Theater, Tuscaloosa, AL
• Wash, lobby and gallery installation, CIVA Conference, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI

2014

• Reflexion, ArtPrize 2014 Group Exhibit, Calvin College Center Art Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
• Wash, solo exhibit, Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center, Arts Council Gallery, Tuscaloosa, AL
• Wash, solo exhibit, Kentuck Art Center, T.E.M.P. Gallery, Northport, AL
• Wash, solo exhibit, Troy Pike Cultural Arts Center, Troy, AL
• Wash, solo exhibit and lobby installation, Chipola College Art Gallery, Chipola Center for the Arts, Marianna, FL

2013

• Roil, solo exhibit, Herman & Beatrice Blumberg Gallery, Wiregrass Museum of Art, Dothan, AL
• Meticulous Excavations: Jamey Grimes and Charles Clary (two-person show), Rymer Gallery, Nashville
• Chroma: Natalie Dunham and Jamey Grimes (two-person show), Durbin Gallery, Birmingham, AL
• Convergence, solo exhibit, Eichold Gallery, Spring Hill College, Mobile, AL

Fellowships and Awards

Grimes was named the South Arts State Fellowship recipient for Alabama and awarded $5,000 prize in 2019. He was awarded the 2015 Visual Arts Educator of the Year by the Arts Council of Tuscaloosa. He is a 2012-2013 Alabama State Council on the Arts Visual Arts Fellowship Recipient. He won the 29th West Alabama Juried Art Show Purchase Prize (2013); the Purchase Award at the 39th Annual Bi-State Art Competition, Meridian Museum of Art, Meridian, MS (2012); and was selected for the 10th Anniversary Installation, 4 Bridges Arts Festival, First Tennessee Pavilion, Chattanooga, TN. Grimes was also the Guest Juror for the 2015 Orange Beach (AL) Arts Festival; he was the 2014 Creativity in Collaboration Grant recipient for Projection Mapping, with UA’s Creative Campus.

Media

“A quick lighting test” of Grimes’ new installation, Eclipse, at Austin Peay State University’s The New Gallery.

Past Interviews and More

• Jamey Grimes’ Vimeo page
• 2017 Connector Interview with Jamey Grimes by The New Gallery curator Michael Dickins
• 2017 Art Hive Magazine mentions Grimes’ installation wash at FAT Village (and UA alumnus Doug McCraw, too)
• 2011 MP3 interview  (scroll to 9-11-2011 or ‘control F’ “grimes”)
  The late Georgine Clarke discusses the Outdoor Sculpture Project at Auburn University Montgomery with project director Sue Jensen and participating artist Jamey Grimes.