Justin Liam O'Brien

Justin Liam O'Brien was born in 1991 in Flushing, New York, and lives and works in Brooklyn. He earned an A.S. in Visual Arts from SUNY Suffolk in Selden, New York, in 2013, then a BFA in Digital Arts from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn in 2016. His paintings depict quiet, often domestic moments of queer intimacy and contemplation, built from soft color gradients and interlocking figures.

His first solo exhibition took place at Monya Rowe Gallery in New York in October 2019. He gained wider attention in 2020 with the solo show Dammed by the Rainbow at GNYP Gallery in Berlin, the same year his work was selected by critic Jerry Saltz for New American Paintings, Northeast Edition. Subsequent solo exhibitions followed at Richard Heller Gallery in Los Angeles, Monya Rowe Gallery in New York, Marinaro in New York, Newchild Gallery in Antwerp, and Semiose in Paris, where he presented All Sunsets Risen in 2024. His work is held in the collections of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, and the Ogunquit Museum of American Art in Maine, as well as in notable private and foundation holdings including the Hall Art Foundation, the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, and Fundación Medianoche Cero.

Critical attention has centered on O'Brien's treatment of queer intimacy through gentle, narrative figuration. GNYP Gallery has described his paintings as capturing "moments of tenderness, intimacy and contemplation with soft gradients and interlocking compositions." His selection by New York Magazine critic Jerry Saltz for the 2020 New American Paintings Northeast Edition is the clearest third-party recognition on record, and his work has since been featured in art press including Juxtapoz. He has not received a major institutional award or fellowship to date; his standing instead rests on a steady run of gallery solo shows and inclusion in respected museum, private, and foundation collections.

O'Brien's market is still developing. He is currently represented by galleries including Semiose in Paris, Newchild Gallery in Antwerp, Marinaro in New York, and Richard Heller Gallery in Los Angeles, with earlier exhibiting relationships at Monya Rowe Gallery and GNYP Gallery. No confirmed secondary-market result at a major auction house such as Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips, or Bonhams has been identified. The one documented auction-adjacent appearance is a chalk pastel drawing included in a March 2021 benefit auction for Bailey House, promoted through Artsy, where bidding was reported at USD 2,250 to USD 3,750 as of 18 March 2021; the final sale price was not confirmed. Collectors should treat his public auction history as effectively unestablished at this stage.

O'Brien has no catalogue raisonne, which is typical for an artist this early in his career; authenticity and provenance are best confirmed through his current galleries, including Semiose and Newchild. His public auction history is effectively unestablished: no confirmed sale at a major auction house has been identified, and the only documented auction-adjacent appearance, a 2021 benefit-auction drawing reported by Artsy, does not have a confirmed final price. Collectors should weigh his growing institutional and foundation presence, including works at ICA Miami and the Ogunquit Museum of American Art, against the absence of a reliable auction track record, and treat his market as still forming rather than benchmarked.