CHICAGO, IL.- Monique Meloche Gallery recently announced the representation of Baltimore-based artist Lavar Munroe, who had his first solo show at the gallery in February 2023. We would like to congratulate him on being named a Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation with the additional honor of his fellowship being fully supported by a gift from actor Robert De Niro. Mr. De Niro is supporting a 2023 Fellowship in Fine Arts in honor of his father, the painter Robert De Niro Sr., who was a Guggenheim Fellow in 1968.

Lavar Munroe is an interdisciplinary artist working primarily in painting, mixed-media drawings and sculptural installations. His work is described as a hybrid medium between painting and relief sculpture. Taking inspiration from his Bahamian homeland and local folklore, Munroe uses bold visual language to function as a reaction to the environment of his upbringing to challenge the stigma and judgement associated with the ghetto. His work often incorporates sentimental objects collected and given from his family and birthplace and focuses on themes of travel and its relationship to ancestry, migration, and refugees.

Munroe (b.1982, Nassau, Bahamas) earned his BFA from Savannah College of Art and Design (2007), an MFA in Studio Art at Washington University, St. Louis (2013); and attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2013). He was awarded a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (2014-2016), the Benny Andrews Fellow from the MacDowell Colony (2016), and The Carolina Postdoctoral Program for Faculty Diversity, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill NC (2014). Institutional group exhibitions include The National Art Gallery of the Bahamas (2022); Ichihara Lakeside Museum (2020); Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach, VA (2020); Pérez Art Museum Miami, FL (2019); and Nasher Museum of Art, Durham, NC (2015). Lavar Munroe was selected for Trevor Schoonmaker’s Prospect.4 New Orleans (2017) and Okwui Enwzor’s 56th Venice Biennale (2015), as well as the Dak’art Biennale (2016). Recent notable solo and two person exhibitions include Jack Bell Gallery, London, England (2022); Jenkins Johnson Gallery, CA (2018); and NOMAD, Brussels, Belgium (2017). Munroe’s work is currently included in the group exhibitions When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting at Zeitz MOCAA, South Africa (2022-23) and A Gateway to Possible Worlds at Centre Pompidou-Metz, France (2022-23). His work is in the public collections of Fondation de France; Fondation Gandur pour l’Art, Genève, Switzerland; The Studio Museum of Harlem, NY; The Central Bank of the Bahamas; The National Art Gallery of the Bahamas; and the MAXXI Museum, Rome.

He is the recipient of honors and awards including the Sondheim Artscape Prize Finalist (2021), Distinguished Alums Award from Sam Fox School of Art and Design from Washington University of St. Louis (2018), Sam Fox Dean’s Initiative Fund (2013), Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant (2013), Joan Mitchell Foundation Scholarship (2012), The Kraus Family Foundation Award (2011), and The National Endowment for the Arts Grant (2011). Munroe lives and works between Baltimore, MD, and the Bahamas. He will continue to be represented by Jack Bell Gallery, London.

Monique Meloche Gallery was founded in October 2000, with its debut exhibition ‘Homewrecker’ at Meloche’s home, and officially opened to the public in May 2001. Diverse and inclusive since its inception, the gallery promotes politically minded contemporary art, aiming to be a bellwether for artistic talents early or under-recognized in their careers. Working with an international group of emerging and established artists in all media, the gallery presents conceptually challenging installations in Chicago and at art fairs internationally, with an emphasis on curatorial and institutional outreach.