How Painter Vaughn Spann MFA ’18 Became a Breakout Star at Yale While Raising Two Young Kids at the Same Time

Discussions about young artists on the rise frequently employ the passive voice. He “was chosen” for a competitive residency or solo exhibition; she “was accepted” to an elite art school. But the trajectory of newly minted art star Vaughn Spann, who opened a sold-out solo show at Almine Rech gallery in New York, is no accident. Instead, it is the result of a series of deliberate and canny choices on the part of the 27-year-old artist.

Less than two years after graduating with an MFA from the elite Yale School of Art, Spann’s career has gone into overdrive. His work—which alternates between lush portraiture and mixed-material abstractions—has already been included in more than three dozen group shows across the US, including a prominent position in the inaugural display at the newly opened Rubell Museum in Miami.

Read more about Vaughn Spann at this ArtNet article.