Jon Key

A writer, designer and painter, his work excavates the lineage and history of his identity through intersecting themes: Southernness, Blackness, Queerness, and Family. Borrowing from design history and principles, Key’s contorted hard lined figures are brushed with family histories reflected in Polka Dots and plaids across the surface of his works. In opaque interior and exterior environments that conceal American histories of pain and oppression, Key layers stories of Queer ancestry. Through archival empherma and artifacts Key offers glimpses of strength, support and resilience.

Key graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design BA and MA Design Research, Criticism and Writing from School of Visual Arts. Key currently teaches at Cooper Union. Key is the Co-Founder Codify Art, a multidisciplinary collective dedicated to creating, producing, supporting, and showcasing work by artists of colour, particularly women, queer, and trans artists of colour. Key’s work has been included in personal and institutional collections including Yale University, AIEVA Institute, The Dean Collection, The Watson Library collection at The Met, the Columbus Museum, RISD Special Collection, and the Schomburg Center. Key’s work has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Atlantic. Key was selected for Forbes 30 under 30 Art and Style list for 2020 and was the Frank Staton Chair in Graphic Design at Cooper Union 2018-2019. Key recently was awarded Black Visionaries Grant Impact Award from the Brooklyn Museum.