JONATHAN LY N D O N CHASE
WE MET UNDER A WIND SONG KNEES AND ELBOWS BENDING HIS GHOST SHEET OUR SALTED NIKE FITTED SHEETS PEARL STAINED DREAMING GOLD TIME AND KISSES WITH YOU BABY BOY -- Jonathan Lyndon Chase
JONATHAN LY N D O N CHASE SHEETS
KOHN GALLERY
PAINTINGS
7
8
Bend, 2018
Heavy lifting, 2018
2 lovers crossing, 2018
14
dimonds all over my body, 2018
16
I head three mask, 2018
12 holes, 2018
peaches and cream, 2018
3 graces of Olney, 2018
Night shade, 2018
26
3SUM, 2016
Night Dress, 2018
30
12-3-6-9, 2017
3 halos Three crosses on bed, 2018
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Man Lying in Garden Bed, 2016
Sheets, a solo exhibition of new work by Philadelphia-based artist Jonathan Lyndon Chase, marks his inaugural exhibition with the gallery, and first solo presentation in Los Angeles. The title of the exhibition, Sheets, alludes to Chase’s use of bedsheets as a base material, allowing viewers to literally and metaphorically share in his domestic spaces, which for Chase function as safe spaces. Sheets is a reference to where we begin and end our day, an element of our day-to-day lives that allows us to unravel or disrobe the layers of multiple identity we maintain for the outside world in order to live. Through contorted figures and fractured compositions that float seamlessly between historical and contemporary styles and references, Chase portrays a form of self-expression that puts human touch at the forefront of his art. His powerful figurative paintings highlight the daily lives of black queer men and the difficulties faced by defining one’s identity in contemporary society. Chase’s engagement with the black figure is complicated and multifaceted. He is often fixated on the duality of emotions and experience. It is important that a contrast exists between the mood of his characters and their environment. This focus on depersonalization brings awareness to the struggle to unite different components of gender identity and psychosocial adversity, especially within the black community. Drawing from everyday experiences, Chase examines the relationship between space and gender as social constructs; the ways in which gender identity is affected by our immediate environment and the dominant societal norms that exist within that space. For Sheets, Chase delves further into this idea of gender performativity, using spatial obscurity as a means of protecting his autobiographical subjects from the trappings of ethno-cultural stereotypes and societal expectations. Fragmented, multi-dimensional characters are placed within abstract and ambiguous backdrops, diminishing structures that forcefully define how conventionaly masculine and feminine bodies are supposed to function in various settings both indoor and outdoor, intimate and public.
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Introducing personalized, yet heavily contorted figures in safe environments, Chase’s figures are allowed to experiment with new forms of non-binary gender expression— coupling watches, track pants, and Nikes with hoop earrings, eyeshadow, and lipstick. His use of gendered items and symbolization, such as fashion and make-up, is rich in Ball Culture, an underground subculture that has thrived for generations as a haven for LGBTQ people of color. As a minority within a minority, many of Chase’s colors and hues are inspired by the music and pop culture aesthetics common in the 90s-era black community in which he grew up. Chase’s practice is a hybrid one, ranging across painting, drawing, collage, and sculpture, often all within the same work. The exhibition displays this interdisciplinary practice with a range of multi-media paintings and works on paper throughout the entirety of the gallery’s exhibition spaces. These works contain a vast vernacular of expressionism and graphic style evocative of predecessors such as Egon Schiele; harnessing an exceptional degree of emotional and sexual directness and figural distortion in place of conventional beauty. Moreover, his deeply personal and striking approach to figuration incites references to the contorted male bodies of Francis Bacon, while their impossible curvature and ageless ambiguity is indicative of Greco- Roman sculpture. Yet with his raw and gestural aesthetic, Chase has developed a distinctive body of work that bridges the contemporary and the ancient, hinging on representation and abstraction.
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-- Joshua Friedman
WORKS ON PAPER
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42 joined arms, 2018
4 number 8’s on a rainy day, 2017
Yella Bois, 2018 blue boys, 2018
Blue Hat With Heels, 2017 diamonds all ova my body, 2017 diamond dress, 2017
boy with hoop earring, 2018 brown hoop, 2017 pretty on pink pillows, 2018
Diamond Ring, 2018 Beauty, 2018
54 evening warmth, 2018
blue petals, 2018 Hot boy, 2018 waiting outside, 2017
Big Blow, 2018 pucker music, 2018 party line, 2016 Will, 2017
I call her between sheets, 2017
62 untitled, 2017 Boy in yellow shirt, 2017
63
Eyes locked on jawn, 2017 Chuck, 2017
EDUCATION 2016
MFA, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2013
BFA, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2010
AA, Community College of Philadelphia, PA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2018
Sheets, Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Quiet Storm, Company Gallery, New York, NY 2016
Sweet and Hard, Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York, NY
Rosebud, Lord Ludd, Philadelphia, PA 2015 2013
Arenas, Tenderness, and Gloom, Featured alumni exhibition, Gallery 817, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Double Identity, Gallery 817, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2018
Drift: Paintings about One Thing and Another, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Reclamation! Pan-African Works from the Beth Rubin DeWoody Collection, 2017
Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, VA
Engender, Curated by Joshua Friedman, Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Nude, V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, DK
Chase / Fratino / Lee, Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York, NY
A More Perfect Union? Power, Sex, and Race in the Representation of Couples, 2016
Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Person, Place or Thing, Fleisher/Ollman Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Queering Space, Green Hall Gallery, Yale University, New Haven, CT 2013
Art Unleashed, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
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AWARDS 2016
The Woodmere Art Museum Purchase Prize, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Art, Philadelphia, PA
The Judith McGregor Caldwell Purchase Prize, Philadelphia, PA
Artcritical Award, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Art, Philadelphia, PA
Fine Arts Venture Fund Recipient, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Art, Philadelphia, PA
2015
Dokey Award, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Art, Philadelphia, PA
2014
PAFA Graduate Grant, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Art, Philadelphia, PA
Steve Jaffe Award in Drawing, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2012
Michael Leone Prize for Outstanding Progress, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
BIBLIOGRAPHY 2018
Neuendorf, Henri, “With Back-To-Back Sold-Out Shows, the 28-Year-Old Painter Jonathan Lyndon
Chase Is a Young Artist to Watch,” Artnet, June 29
Mizota, Sharon, “Black and gay: Jonathan Lyndon Chase’s paintings play with cultural conventions,”
Los Angeles Times, June 25
Dambrot, Shana Nys, “Gay Black Artist Jonathan Lyndon Chase Makes His Mark in the L.A. ArtWorld,”
LA Weekly, June 6
Hinzmann, Dennis, “Jonathan Lyndon Chase Expresses His Black Queerness Through Fractured Figures & Colorful Compositions,” Out, June 1
Wong, Curtis M., “This Artist Is Tackling Black, Queer Identities In An Intimate Way,”
Huffington Post, June 1
Miranda, Caroline A., “Datebook,” Los Angeles Times, May 31 Tilley, John Martin, “Gender Blender,” Office, May 30 “Interview,” Whitehot Magazine, May
Cotter, Holland, “10 Galleries to Visit Now on the Lower East Side,” The New York Times, April 26 Miss Rosen, “The artist painting beautiful, raunchy stories about queer life,” Dazed, April 26
Stewart, Chris, “Jonathan Lyndon Chase’s Quite Storm at Company Gallery,” Gayletter, April 2
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2017
Ali, Abdu, “Body Play,” Art Papers, Winter 2017/2018
Black, Ezrha Jean, “Artillery Best in Show,” Artillery, January 2 Black, Ezrha Jean, “Engender,” Artillery, December 14 Wood, Eve, “Engender,” Art and Cake, December 9
Martens, Joel, “Engender: The Subjectivity of Male and Female,” RAGE, December 5 Miller, James H., “Engender,” The Art Newspaper, December 5
Anderson, Samuel, “This L.A. Art Show Challenges Gender,” Dujour, November 16 “Engender,” Blouin Artinfo, November 16
Donoghue, Katy, “Beyond Binary,” Whitewall, November 16
Tolema, Deianira, “Kohn Gallery’s Joshua Friedman Talks About ‘Engender,’”
D/Railed Mag, November 14
“Engender,” Los Angeles Times, November 14
Neuendorf, Henri, “Show & Tell,” Artnet, November 9 Lehrer, Adam, “Engender,” Untitled, November 8
Bogojev, Sasha, “17 Artist Take on Gender Identity in ‘Engender,’”
Juxtapoz, November 7
Chen, Joyce, “A Side Conversation With ‘Engender’ Exhibition Artists,”
The Seventh Wave, November 7
Levine, Deborah, “Engender Exhibit Goes Beyond the Binary,”
American Diversity Report, October 20 2016
Harrity, Christopher, “Engender,” Advocate, October 16 “Engender,” Quiet Lunch, October 5
“The Best of Art Brussels,” Sleek Mag, April 22
Herzog, Matthew, “Where Everyone Knows Your Name,” Velvet Glove, January 30 Allen, Justin, “Leslie,” Lohman Museum, January
Rodney, Seph, “Paintings that Play Out the Rhythms of Sex,” Hyperallergic, July 28 Mir, Stan, “Dissections of Desire: Jonathan Lyndon Chase’s ‘Rosebud,’”
Hyperallergic, April 9
Valentine, Victoria, L., “32 New Exhibitions Feature Innovative Works by Black Artists,”
Culture Type, April 16
William, Didier, “D.C. A Curious Proposition: The Paintings of Jonathan Lyndon Chase,”
Artcritical, June 8
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Langberg, Doron, “Jonathan Lyndon Chase: The Weight of Emotion and the Weight of
2015 2014
Flesh,” The Color Hour, March 8
“The Tenth Zine: Volume 3: Hollywood,” thetenthzine.com, December 10 Smith, Danez, “[insert] boy,” YesYesBooks
“Amplifying the Voice and Vision of Young Philly,” CRED Philly Magazine, Issue #6
SELECTED COLLECTIONS Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA The Hort Collection, New York, NY Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, Palm Beach, FL The Wedge Collection, Toronto, Canada Andrew Xue Collection, Shanghai, China Cuperior Collection - Oliver Elst, Frankfurt, Germany Milk Collection, Portugal
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Cover Bend, 2018 Acrylic, marker, graphite and glitter on cotton bed sheet 72 x 60 inches
Page 17 I head three mask, 2018 Acrylic, marker, graphite, oil stick and glitter on cotton canvas, 34 x 30 inches
Page 6 detail: peaches and cream, 2018 Acrylic, marker, graphite and glitter on cotton bed sheet 40 x 60 inches
Page 18-19 12 holes, 2018 Acrylic, marker, spray paint, glitter and graphite on canvas 72 x 48 inches
Page 9 Bend, 2018 Acrylic, marker, graphite and glitter on cotton bed sheet 72 x 60 inches
Page 20-21 peaches and cream, 2018 Acrylic, marker, graphite and glitter on cotton bed sheet 40 x 60 inches
Page 10-11 Heavy lifting, 2018 Acrylic, oil stick, graphite and marker on cotton bed sheet 60 x 72 inches
Page 22-23 3 graces of Olney, 2018 Acrylic, spray paint, glitter, marker, rhinestones on canvas 50 x 40 inches
Page 12-13 2 lovers crossing, 2018 Acrylic, glitter, pastel, rhinestones and marker on canvas 72 x 48 inches
Page 24-25 Night Shade, 2018 Acrylic, marker, rhinestone numbers, glitter and pastel on cotton bed sheet, 60 x 72 inches
Page 15 dimonds all over my body, 2018 Acrylic, rhinestone, glitter, pastel and marker on canvas 60 x 48 inches
Page 27 3SUM, 2016 Acrylic, found bag, spray paint, marker, paper and glitter on canvas, 72 x 60 inches
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Page 28-29 Night Dress, 2018 Acrylic, marker, pastel, graphite, rhinestones and glitter on cotton bed sheet, 24 x 20 inches
Page 44-45 4 number 8’s on a rainy day, 2017 Glitter, acrylic, marker, watercolor and pastel on paper 17 1/2 x 14 inches
Page 31 12-3-6-9, 2017 Acrylic, oil paint, oil stick, glitter and graphite on canvas 60 x 48 inches
Page 46 Yella Bois, 2018 Watercolor, pastel, marker and graphite on paper 11 x 14 inches
Page 32-33 3 halos Three crosses on bed, 2018 Acrylic, marker, graphite, rhinestones and glitter on cotton bed sheet, 60 x 40 inches
Page 47 blue boys, 2018 Watercolor, marker, pastel and glitter on paper 11 x 14 inches
Page 35 Man Lying in Garden Bed, 2016 Acrylic, marker on cotton bed sheet 72 x 72 inches
Page 48 Blue Hat With Heels, 2017 Pastel on paper 15 x 11 inches
Page 40 detail: pretty on pink pillows, 2018 Acrylic, pastel, marker, graphite, watercolor and glitter on paper, 14 x 11 inches
Page 49 diamonds all ova my body, 2017 Pen, oil stick, rhinestone and glitter on paper 11 x 8 1/2 inches
Page 43 joined arms, 2018 Marker, pen, watercolor and glitter on paper 17 1/2 x 14 inches
Page 49 diamond dress, 2017 Rhinestone, graphite, gold makeup and acrylic on paper 17 1/2 x 14 inches
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Page 50 boy with hoop earring, 2018 Marker and pastel on paper 11 x 8 1/2 inches
Page 56 blue petals, 2018 Watercolor, graphite, marker and glitter on paper 14 x 11 inches
Page 50 brown hoop, 2017 Charcoal and glitter on paper bag 12 1/2 x 10 1/4 inches
Page 57 Hot boy, 2018 Watercolor, graphite and marker on paper
Page 51 pretty on pink pillows, 2018 Acrylic, pastel, marker, graphite, watercolor and glitter on paper, 14 x 11 inches
Page 57 waiting outside, 2017 Marker, graphite and watercolor on paper 14 1/4 x 10 1/2 inches
Page 52 Diamond Ring, 2018 Watercolor, marker, pastel and glitter on paper 14 x 8 3/4 inches
Page 58 Big Blow, 2018 Pastel, charcoal and mixed media on paper 11 x 8 1/2 inches
Page 53 Beauty, 2018 Watercolor, marker, glitter and pen on paper 13 1/2 x 14 inches
Page 58 pucker music, 2018 Charcoal on paper 11 x 8 1/2 inches
Page 55 evening warmth, 2018 Watercolor, glitter, marker and graphite on paper 11 x 14 inches
Page 58 party line, 2016 Charcoal and marker on paper 11 x 8 1/2 inches
19 1/2 x 14 inches
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Page 59 Will, 2017 Pastel on paper 15 x 11 inches Page 60-61 I call her between sheets, 2017 Graphite and pastel on paper 27 1/2 x 19 1/2 inches Page 62 untitled, 2017 Oil stick and glitter on paper 12 x 9 3/4 inches Page 62 Boy in yellow shirt, 2017 Pastel and mixed media on paper 12 x 9 3/4 inches Page 63 Eyes locked on jawn, 2017 Oil stick and glitter on paper 12 x 9 3/4 inches Page 63 Chuck, 2017 Oil stick on paper 12 x 9 3/4 inches
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Published on the occasion of the exhibition Jonathan Lyndon Chase Sheets June 1 - July 14, 2018 Design and photography by Karl Puchlik Page 2 and 69 photography by Coke O’Neal Kohn Gallery 1227 N Highland Ave Los Angeles, CA 90038 tel: 323 461 3311 email: gallery@kohngallery.com www.kohngallery.com All rights reserved. No part of the contents of this catalogue may be reproduced without the permission of the publisher. Catalogue © 2018 Kohn Gallery All images © 2018 Jonathan Lyndon Chase
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KOHN GALLERY