Greatboxers

Artist: George Spencer

His boxer portraits capture moments of stillness—before or after the fight. Gloves and faces dominate the compositions, blurring the line between triumph and defeat. Bold, dripping brushstrokes evoke sweat, blood, and exhaustion, holding the tension between combat and retreat, life and death.

Education

  • School of Visual Arts (1984–1986)

  • Maryland Institute College of Art (1991–1992)

  • Dia Center for the Arts (1987–1990, 1997–1999)

  • Parsons Summer Program (1980, full scholarship)

  • High School of Art & Design (1981)

Selected Exhibitions

  • Slap Town, Indianapolis, IN (June 2025)

  • Delytes Gallery, Portland, OR (May 2025)

  • Laugh It Off, Comedy Village, NYC (May 2025)

  • The World’s Fair, Austin, TX (April 2025)

  • Bang Bang Body Arts, Northampton, MA (Dec 2024)

  • Tender Comes After Swimming, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, curated by Hiroshi Shafer (June 2024)

  • The Storm Inside, Eye on Art, Chelsea, NYC (April 2023)

  • Vinyl Vandals, Legacy Gallery, Washington, DC (April 2023)

  • Teeth of the Archive, Museum of Modern Art Warsaw, Poland (2014)

  • Public Art & Early Work

  • Art in Odd Places, Governors Island & 14th Street, NYC

  • The Boxing Series, LIFE Café, Brooklyn (2006 retrospective, original series began in 1986)

  • Founding member of REPOhistory (1989–2002)

  • Permanent mural: 4 Boxers, Peaches, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

  • Residencies & Grants

  • National Endowment for the Arts, University of Houston Sculpture Residency (1997)

  • Brooklyn Community Access Television (BCAT) Artist Residency (2002)

  • Puffin Foundation Grants (1988–1989)

  • Lower East Side Printshop Residency (1987)

  • Curatorial Projects

  • Stop Copying Me!, 17 Frost Gallery (2023)

  • Riding the Gain, 17 Frost Gallery (2023)

  • In Our Own World, Joyce Goldstein Gallery (2020)

  • Rolling Thunder Writers Reunion, Presents Gallery, NYC (2012)

  • Publications & Press

  • UP Magazine, "Maybe Mayhem" (2023)

  • EyesOnArtGroup.org Interview (2023)

  • Stickers: From Punk Rock to Contemporary Art, Vol. 1 & 2 (Rizzoli)

  • Hyperallergic, ArtNet, NY Times, Time Out, Metro NY, Public Art Review, Index Magazine

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Aaron Nemec