about
Shamona Stokes is a Jersey City-based visual artist who holds a BFA from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY (2002). Her sculptures and mixed media paintings explore the imaginary figures & landscapes of her subconscious mind.
She has exhibited locally at Deep Space Gallery in Jersey City and throughout New York City at Pen + Brush, SPRING/BREAK Art Show, The Untitled Space, Kate Oh Gallery, Active Space and the Superfine! Art Fair. National exhibitions include SCOPE Art Basel Miami and a solo installation at the Forth Worth Community Arts Center in Texas (2019). She’s exhibited internationally during the 2024 Venice Art Biennial at PERSONAL STRUCTURES presented by the European Cultural Centre and at Headline Gallery in Vancouver, CA.
Shamona’s work has been featured in Artsy’s FOUNDATIONS Art Fair, New York Magazine’s “The Cut”, The Jealous Curator, The Untitled Magazine, and Create! Magazine. She was a semi-finalist in the Bombay Sapphire Artisan series (2017) and also wrote & illustrated a book, Horn of Plenty, published by Friend of the Artist (2020).
In addition to her art-making practice, Shamona is passionate about building creative community. Shamona’s the founder of the Antenna Grant for Young Women in the Arts, the Director of elevator art studios (Jersey City), and a founding partner of wandering lights projects curatorial collective.
Her varied body of work is a product of a meditation and reiki practice which began in 2016. Prior to that, she hadn’t made any artwork in over 16 years. Learn more about her approach to art-making and the creative services she offers here.
cv
Born 1980, Piscataway, NJ
Lives and works in Jersey City, NJ
Education
2002 Pratt Institute, BFA Magna Cum Laude, Brooklyn, NY
2015-2017 School of Visual Arts, Continuing Education in Ceramics, NY, NY
Solo Installations
2019 Fort Worth Community Arts Center, “Horn of Plenty,” Fort Worth, TX
Group Exhibitions
2024 “PERSONAL STRUCTURES” presented by the European Cultural Centre, Venice, Italy
2024 Krause Gallery, “Making History A Celebration of Women Artists,” NY, NY
2024 Deep Space Gallery, “Dear April,” Jersey City, NJ
2023 Active Space Gallery, “Light of Summer,” Brooklyn, NY
2023 Pen + Brush Gallery, “Bodies, Bodies, Bodies,” NY, NY
2023 Deep Space Gallery, “Mothership Earth,” Jersey City, NJ
2022 C24 Gallery, Sensing Woman, New York, NY
2022 Stretch Gallery, Group Exhibition, Miami, FL
2022 Deep Space Gallery, “Material World,” Jersey City, NJ
2022 Kate Oh Gallery, “RAINBOW,” New York, NY
2022 Deep Space Gallery, “Mothership Connection,” Jersey City, NJ
2021 Kate Oh Gallery, “Towards the Light,” New York, NY
2021 SHRINE Gallery, “Group Show”, Online
2021 Untitled Space, “INNOVATE,” New York, NY
2021 Headline Gallery, “Authentic Self: A New Equilibrium,” Vancouver, CA
2021 The Zeitgeist Project, “Live from New York”, Lisbon, Portugal
2021 DOORS Pop Up Art Show, New York, NY
2021 Deep Space Gallery, “Gigantic Miniature Show,” Jersey City, NJ
2020 SoHo Pop Up Art Show presented by NYC Arts Empire, New York, NY
2020 Showfields x PxP Contemporary, Live Online Curation
2020 MANA Decentralized, “Member Works: Sculpture,” Jersey City, NJ
2020 The Mural Room, “Because I Saw a Mountain,” Brooklyn, NY
2020 Deep Space Gallery, “Return of the Mothership,” Jersey City, NJ
2019 The Untitled Space, “Body Beautiful,” New York, NY
2019 Project Studios, “Project Studios Group Exhibition,” Hoboken, NJ
2019 PxP Contemporary, “50×500 Show”, Online Curation
2019 Sugarlift, “Mother & Child II: Benefit to Support Immigrant Families,” New York, NY
2018 Deep Space Gallery, “The Mothership,” Jersey City, NJ
2018 The Untitled Space, “Defining Form”, New York, NY
2018 Sugarlift, “Mother & Child Vol. I: Benefit to Support Immigrant Families,” New York, NY
2018 HUE Gallery, “Contemporary Pop Art National Invitational Exhibition,” Wichita, KS
2017 Allouche Gallery, “Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series” sponsored by Artsy + SCOPE, New York, NY
Art Fairs
2024 Artsy FOUNDATIONS Art Fair (online)
2022 Art Fair 14c, Juried Showcase exhibitor, Jersey City, NJ
2022 SPRING/BREAK Art Show, “Drink the Sun,” New York, NY
2020 MANA Contemporary & CADAF Digital Art Fair, Jersey City, NJ
2019 Superfine! Art Fair, New York, NY
2018 SCOPE Art Fair, Miami, FL
2018 Superfine! Art Fair, New York, NY
2018 Clio Art Fair, New York, NY
2020 Art for Food Auction benefiting Food Bank 4 NYC
2020 Art4Equality x Paddle 8, “Body Beautiful”
Awards
2022 Individual Artist Fellowship Grant awarded by the Jersey City Arts & Culture Trust
2020 Giving Artist award presented by the Jersey City Arts Council
2017 ArtSlant Prize Showcase Winner in Sculpture
Publications
2021 The Untitled Magazine “INNOVATE” Collector’s Print Edition
2020 Friend of the Artist Vol. 11 Feature
2019 Create! Magazine Women’s Issue Feature
Select Press
2020 Friend of the Artist Vol. 11
2019 Create! Magazine Artist Spotlight + Podcast Interview
2019 Body Beautiful Review at the Untitled Space NYC by Chloe Hyman
2019 Supersonic Art Online Artist Spotlight
2019 The Jealous Curator Online Artist Spotlight
2019 Colossal “Mother & Child Vol. II Raises over $15,000 to Support Separated Immigrant Families”
2019 Create! Magazine Inaugural “Women’s Issue” Printed Feature
2019 Kickstarter “Antenna: A Sculptural Shrine to the Human Imagination”
2018 SCOPE Miami Beach Video by Jason McGroarty
2018 Boston Voyager Interview
2018 New York Magazine’s “The CUT” featuring my work in print
2018 NewStand Interview “Artist Shamona Stokes Will Make You Feel Like a Kid Again” by Nana Kim
2018 Superfine! Art Fair Review by Chloe Hyman of Canvas and Crumpets
2018 Supersonic Art Online Artist Spotlight
2017 Young Space Interview by Kate Mothes
2017 Creative Boom Artist Spotlight
2017 Supersonic Art Online Artist Spotlight
Organizations
2021-Present: Director, elevator, Jersey City, NJ
2021-Present: Founder of the Antenna Grant for Women in the Arts
2021: Advisory Board Member of the Jersey City Arts Council
Speaking Engagements
2023 &co Coworking Space, Jersey City, NJ
2020 The Cultivist, Brooklyn, NY
2020 Salons for Life, Jersey City, NJ
2011 The Art Institute of New York, NY, NY
giving
Thank you for supporting my work. I donate a portion of certain pieces sold to the charities listed below. By collecting my artwork, you’ve helped raise nearly $10k in donations towards the following causes:
The Antenna Grant for Women in the Arts, National Resources Defense Council, Welcome Home Jersey City, Meals on Wheels, Center for Biodiversity, Khalsaaid.org, CARE, Polaris Project, and Food Bank NYC among others.
“There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.” —Vincent Van Gogh