Knoxville-born Hamlett Dobbins’ inventive abstract paintings are often based on memories of specific individuals from his personal life. His work explores subtle variations in edge, color, pattern, density, texture, and spatial relationships and their ability to produce certain emotional responses.

A native of Tennessee, Dobbins has spent most of his life in Memphis. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Memphis and earned his Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa. He has taught at University of Mississippi, Memphis College of Art, University of Iowa, University of Memphis, and Rhodes College. He ran an alternative exhibition space called Material and has worked as a curator at Delta Axis @ Marshall Arts and Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College.

Notable achievements include fellowships and residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, and American Academy in Rome, Italy, where he spent 11 months and was awarded The Jules Guerin Rome Prize in Visual Arts. Dobbins has received grants from the Pollock Krasner Foundation, Tennessee Arts Commission, and ArtsMemphis; and his work has been shown throughout the region and nationally.

The Knoxville Museum of Art acquired his work Untitled (for I.V./C.B.) in 2018 as a gift from the artist and David Lusk Gallery, Memphis. Click here to view additional information about this work, among others, in the KMA’s permanent collection.

Dobbins lives and works in Memphis, Tenn. For additional information, visit hamlettdobbins.com.

LDV 2023 Featured Work:

Hamlett Dobbins, Untitled, 2022. Acrylic on canvas, 36×44 inches.

Dobbins’ inventive abstract paintings are often based on memories of specific individuals from his personal life.  He explores subtle variations in edge, color, pattern, density, and texture, and spatial relationships and their ability to produce certain emotional responses.  After manipulating both drawn and photographic imagery on his computer, Dobbins then transfers the digital sketch onto the canvas grid-by-grid.

LDV 2024 Featured Artist to be announced soon!