Rashawn Griffin

Rashawn Griffin (born 1980) is an American visual artist and educator. He has worked as an installation artist, sculptor, multimedia artist, and painter. His work explores identity and race. Griffin teaches at the University of Kansas.

Early life and education Rashawn Griffin was born in 1980, in Los Angeles, California. He was raised in Olathe, Kansas, and attended high school in Kansas City, Kansas.

Griffin received a BFA degree in 2002, from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA); and a MFA degree in 2005, from Yale University. and an artist-in-residence multiple times at the MacDowell Colony. Griffin received the Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship in 2017, and a grant in 2007.

He has participated in notable group exhibitions including the Whitney Biennial (2008) at Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City;

Griffin's artwork is in museum collections, including at the Studio Museum in Harlem. 2006, Rashawn Griffin: l'ours et les deux négociants, Galerie Eva Winkeler, Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany 2007, Rashawn Griffin, Central Utah Arts Center, Ephraim, Utah, U.S. 2008, Rashawn Griffin, Smith–Stewart gallery, New York City, New York 2012, A hole-in-the-wall country, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, Kansas, U.S.

Group exhibitions 2005, Is-Ness: Thomas Florschuetz, Rashawn Griffin, Lynn Marie Kirby, Thomas Erben Gallery, New York City, New York, U.S. 2007, The Red Badge of Courage, Newark Arts Council, Newark, New Jersey, U.S.; curated by Omar Lopez–Chahoud, featuring Rashawn Griffin, Chakaia Booker, Kevin Darmnaie, Rico Gatson, Adler Guerrier, Ben Jones, Jayson Keeling, Simone Leigh, Kevin Sampson, Xaviera Simmons, Shinique Smith, Juana Valdes, and Roberto Visani 2008, The Fullness of Time, Arndt & Partner, Zurich, Switzerland; curated by Rashida Bumbray, featuring Rashawn Griffin, William Cordova, and Leslie Hewitt 2008, Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, New York, U.S.; curated by Henriette Huldisch and Shamim M. Momin 2010, Unspecific Objects, Thierry Goldberg Projects, New York City, New York, U.S. 2011–2012, Clifford Owens: Anthology, group exhibition, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, Queens, New York City, New York, U.S.; featuring Rashawn Griffin, Derrick Adams, Terry Adkins, Sanford Biggers, Aisha Cousins, Sherman Fleming, Coco Fusco, Charles Gaines, Malik Gaines, Rico Gatson, Lyle Ashton Harris, Maren Hassinger, Steffani Jemison, Jennie C. Jones, Nsenga A. Knight, Glenn Ligon, Dave McKenzie, Senga Nengudi, Lorraine O'Grady, Benjamin Patterson, William Pope.L, Jacolby Satterwhite, Xaviera Simmons, Shinique Smith, Kara Walker, and Saya Woolfalk 2014, Minimal Baroque: Post-Minimalism and Contemporary Art, Rønnebæksholm, Næstved, Denmark