Samantha Joy Groff
Dark Pasture Encounter: Rapture, 2024
oil and acrylic on canvas
96 x 66 in
244 x 168 cm
Samantha Joy Groff
Fentanyl Jesus, 2024
oil and acrylic on canvas
72 x 84 in
183 x 213 cm
Samantha Joy Groff
Hostage to the Devil, 2024
oil and acrylic on canvas
72 x 48 in
183 x 122 cm
Samantha Joy Groff: Prophecy of the End
Installation View
Nicodim, New York, 2024
Samantha Joy Groff: Prophecy of the End
Installation View
Nicodim, New York, 2024
Samantha Joy Groff
And the Star was named Bitterness, 2023
acrylic and oil on canvas
51h x 76w in
130h x 193w cm
Samantha Joy Groff
Knuckling Blonde, 2023
acrylic and oil on canvas
72h x 56w in
183h x 142w cm
Samantha Joy Groff
Two will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left, 2023
acrylic and oil on canvas
76h x 89w in
193h x 225w cm
Samantha Joy Groff
Night Prey, or (The Prey of the Terrible shall be Delivered), 2024
oil and acrylic on canvas
84 x 48 in
213 x 122 cm
Samantha Joy Groff
Backwoods Diana the Huntress, 2024
oil and acrylic on canvas
68 x 48 in
173 x 122 cm
Samantha Joy Groff
Morning Dew (Threadbare), 2022
acrylic and oil on canvas
24h x 18w in
61h x 46w cm
Samantha Joy Groff
Out to Pasture, 2022
acrylic and oil on canvas
50h x 84w in
127h x 213w cm
Samantha Joy Groff, Devin B. Johnson, Katherina Olschbaur
Installation View
Nicodim, New York, 2023
Samantha Joy Groff, Devin B. Johnson, Katherina Olschbaur
Installation View
Nicodim, New York, 2023
Samantha Joy Groff, Devin B. Johnson, Katherina Olschbaur
Installation View
Nicodim, New York, 2023
Samantha Joy Groff: True Riches
Installation View
Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles 2022
Samantha Joy Groff: True Riches
Installation View
Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles 2022
Samantha Joy Groff: True Riches
Installation View
Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles 2022
Samantha Joy Groff (b. 1993, Pennsylvania) received her MFA from Yale School of Art and earned a dual undergraduate degree from Parsons School of Design in integrated fashion design and film studies. Exhibitions include Ángeles Agrela, June Canedo de Souza, Æmen Ededéen, Samantha Joy Groff, Teresa Murta, Daniel Pitín, Nicodim, New York (2026); Prophecy of the End, Nicodim, New York (2024, solo); The Ballad of the Children on the Czar, Galeria Nicodim, Bucharest (2024); HUNTRESS, Half Gallery, Los Angeles (2024, solo); Samantha Joy Groff, Devin B. Johnson, Katherina Olschbaur, Nicodim, New York (2023); Dark Pastures, Half Gallery, Los Angeles (2023, solo); Samantha Joy Groff: True Riches, Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles (2022, solo); Town Gossip, Martha’s Contemporary, Austin (2022, solo); Stilltsville, Half Gallery, Miami (2022); YOU ME ME YOU curated by Rachel Keller, Nicodim, Los Angeles (2022); and Vibrant Matters, Jeffrey Deitch, New York (2022).
The term “para-pastoral” is a bit of a catch-all, but Katie White’s article helped me think about it as more than just more of the same, as artists try to make a connection with nature that is not about a return to a pure past or rebooting pastoral painting traditions.
"There has always been something a little “off” in my drawing, and it naturally emerged as my style. My drawings are unrefined and raw in a way that can put people off or make them laugh."
"I am exploring themes of otherworldly experiences in the confines of my reality. What’s it feel like to be in empty fields at night, to stumble on strange things? Some of my paintings try to emulate the idea of rapture or religious experiences of ecstasy."
“The language of historical painting often romanticizes the working rural body,” said Pennsylvania artist Samantha Joy Groff, who is known for her alluring, strange paintings of rural women in nature.
Samantha Joy Groff paints young women cavorting in forests under the dark of night. The scenes are almost supernatural.
Groff’s exhibition delves into apocalyptic imagery, reinterpreting religious narratives through a contemporary lens. Her latest series evokes a sense of foreboding, exploring themes of ritual, exorcism, and divine confrontation.
A "Pennsyltucky painter" refracts her Mennonite upbringing.
