Installation view, photo by Pierre Carreau
Jonas Wood
Clipping Index 1, 2015
Gouache, ink, and colored pencil on paper, In seven parts (image size, each): approx. 60 × 40 inches (152.4 × 101.6 cm)
© Jonas Wood
Gagosian is pleased to present new drawings by Jonas Wood at Eden Rock Gallery, St Barths.
In his ongoing investigation of his intimate environment, Wood fuses artistic influences as diverse as the domestic interiors of Pierre Bonnard, Henri Matisse, and David Hockney to Chinese and Japanese still-life scenes, ancient pottery, and the guileless textiles of Josef Frank. Sampling subjects from his own photographs, he reiterates them through layered drawings, some of which he develops into paintings. Filling compressed picture planes with figures, plants, and household objects, Wood reimagines the world as a variegated collage of overlapping patterns, flatly rendered. Painted outlines of pots and vases—often based on the work of his wife Shio Kusaka and fueled by their shared interest in the history of ceramics—contain landscape and interior imagery, while verdant interiors possess an affectless cut-out appearance.
In the exhibited drawings, Wood recycles "clippings" from his own paintings, still-life sketches and photographs of exotic plants and sets them into formal play. Patterned, overlapping petals and leaves coalesce into vibrant abstractions. Clipping Index 1 (2015), Wood's first multi-part work, is a suite of seven large-scale drawings in gouache, colored pencil, and ink on paper. Plucked from the context of their previously depicted maternal plants, sections of bromeliads, orchids and succulents become autonomous, unpredictable characters. Rendered in a bright palette or grayscale, close-up or suspended in space, they comprise a diverse garden of lyrical transformations.
Jonas Wood was born in Boston in 1977, and lives and works in Los Angeles. Public collections include Museum of Modern Art, New York; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; and Saatchi Gallery, London. Selected solo exhibitions include "Hammer Projects: Jonas Wood," Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2010); "Jonas Wood: Clippings," Lever House, New York (2013-14); "Jonas Wood: Shelf Still Life," High Line Art (2014); and LAXART Facade (2014).
Join Jonas Wood on a virtual tour through the creation of his first solo exhibition in Hong Kong. Wood narrates the genesis and development of the new paintings, drawings, and wallpaper.
The Spring 2019 issue of Gagosian Quarterly is now available, featuring Red Pot with Lute Player #2 by Jonas Wood on its cover.
On the occasion of Jonas Wood’s first survey of prints, the artist spoke about the development of his printmaking practice and its influence on his paintings with legendary Los Angeles–based printmaker Jacob Samuel.
In Los Angeles, the Museum of Contemporary Art’s 5,400-square-foot façade now hosts a vibrant mural by one of the city’s own artists. Meredith Mendelsohn reports on the impact the mural has on revitalizing the museum’s exterior and downtown.
