Today we’d like to introduce you to Jerome Bailey Jr..
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’m a storyteller by way of grief. My father died when I was a baby, and I was raised by a widowed single mother in Southwest Houston, on the non-suburban side of Missouri City. I always knew I was different as a kid, deeply observant and constantly trying to make sense of what I felt and what I saw around me. I started writing raps because words helped me process my emotions, my perspective, and the world I was trying to understand. Poetry never left me, even as my life moved into journalism. In high school, my teacher Ted Irving put a camera in my hand and showed me another way to tell stories, which led me to study journalism at Columbia in New York City and work across newsrooms, documentary projects, and creative storytelling. Later, during a deep depression and spiritual awakening, I wrote Liberation, my first poetry collection. Today, I create poems, then paint and perform them: Poetry but fine art.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, it hasn’t been a smooth road, but I’m grateful for both the joy and the pain because they formed my empathy, perspective, and emotional intelligence. We all go through hard things, no matter where we come from, and I think my gift is being able to synthesize what I’ve lived, what I observe in others, and what I understand spiritually into language people can feel.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I create poems, then I paint and perform them. My practice brings together poetry, painting, performance, film, and reclaimed materials into what I call Poetry but fine art.
I specialize in original poem paintings: handwritten works on wood, paper, and other surfaces that already carry history. The work is literary, visual, and performative at the same time. People often tell me they reread the pieces because the stories keep opening, and that the work feels convicting, inspiring, and deeply personal.
What sets me apart is that I come to the work through multiple disciplines. I’m a journalist, poet, performer, and visual artist, so I understand story, language, timing, image, and emotional truth. I’m most proud that the work is clear enough for people to feel immediately, but layered enough for them to return to again and again. My goal is to make work that can move through homes, galleries, books, films, and performances without losing its soul.
What are your plans for the future?
I’m focused on continuing to expand my full studio practice around my poem paintings, performances, and books. Right now, that means making the work more visible, easier to collect, and more intentional in how it is shown. I want the exhibitions to evolve and reach more people, while the performances and collector base continue to grow around the work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://JeromeBaileyJr.com
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/jeromebaileyjr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1EZ8gAzuiV/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeromebaileyjr/
- Twitter: https://Twitter.com/jeromebaileyjr
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/jeromebaileyjr
