Born in 1984, Jamal Thorne's interest in the visual arts emerged from his experiences as a street artist in the Washington, D.C. area. Through his experiences with street art, he learned basic techniques in drawing, painting and photography. After graduating from high school, Thorne attended Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland where he continued to study drawing and photography under the tutelage of Guy Jones, Eric Briscoe and Kenneth Royster. Upon earning his B.A. in photographic media from Morgan State University in 2008, Thorne relocated to Boston where he became the pioneering student in a newly formed cooperative M.F.A. program between Northeastern University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. During those years, Thorne received the Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Grant award. Jamal Thorne currently lives in Boston and continues to produce work.
