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Press Release
| ZAVIER ELLIS X SAM JACKSON |
| Chronology |
| Michele Mack Gallery |
| PRIVATE VIEW: Tuesday 30 April 2024 6-9pm | RSVP direct@charliesmithlondon.com |
| EXHIBITION DATES: Wednesday 1 May - Saturday 1 June 2024 |
| EXHIBITION HOURS: Tuesday-Saturday 1-6pm |
| ADDRESS: 236 W 10th St, New York, NY 10014, United States |
| Michele Mack Gallery is delighted to present British artists Zavier Ellis and Sam Jackson in ‘Chronology’ in Greenwich Village, New York. Both artists present new work together for the first time in New York, having worked with each other for over 15-years. This exhibition will also include the first public showing of an Ellis-Jackson collaborative painting. Sam Jackon’s series of nine portrait paintings balances emotion with formal painting enquires. Rendered with a gestural fluidity, Jackson’s subjects stare through, at or beyond the spectator. Their gaze is both universal and personal for viewer and painter—the world is momentarily stopped, paused for contemplation and reflection, where past, future, reality, and fiction coalesce. Taking inspiration from texts including Aldous Huxley's 'Perennial Philosophy’, Arthur Rimbaud's 'A Season in Hell' and Shusaku Endo’s 'The Silence', Jackson searches for an eternal moment or state of bliss within his subjects. He is aware that physical objects and bodies are finite; and seeks the ineffable that resides beyond consciousness but within the now. Jackon’s surfaces are strewn with graffiti, a combination of text and symbolism that recalls classroom outpourings. Likewise, Ellis emphasizes a lo-fi aesthetic with reference to street polemics. Ellis’ work is made in response to deep research into historical events that centre on revolution, resistance, and conflict. ‘Chronology’ includes paintings based on the birth of Monotheism, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the French Revolution, and Civil Rights. In his ‘Sites of Conflict: Freedom’ series, Ellis reverses Jasper Johns by employing collage and décollage techniques over the American flag. The paintings are finished by being indiscriminately shot with a gun, adding a new layer of brutality to his process that physically correlates to the events he is examining. 'Chronology II (Keep me searching for a heart of gold)' is a collaborative painting that perfectly combines both artist’s search for freedom beyond meaning—drawing on the past, Ellis and Jackson meditate on the personal and political by combining repeated, frenzied rhizomatic techniques. Sam Jackson graduated from the Royal Academy Schools with a Postgraduate Diploma in 2007. He has exhibited widely, including Saatchi Gallery, London; The Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts, Norwich; Walker Art Museum, Liverpool; Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum, Bournemouth; Dean Clough, Halifax; Galerie Heike Strelow, Frankfurt; Galerie Robert Drees, Berlin; Galerie Rigassi, Bern; Koraalberg Contemporary Art Gallery, Antwerp; Galerie Isabelle Gounod, Paris; and Mark Moore Gallery, LA. His work is placed in prominent private collections globally including Javier Baz, Denver; Glen Luchford, New York; David Roberts, London; Sir Norman Rosenthal, London; and Kay Saatchi, Los Angeles. Zavier Ellis read History of Modern Art at Manchester University (1993-1996) before undertaking a Masters in Fine Art at City & Guilds of London Art School (2003-2005). Ellis has exhibited globally including Museum der Moderne, Salzburg; Pera Museum, Istanbul; Saatchi Gallery, London; Torrance Art Museum, Los Angeles; Klaipėda Culture Communication Centre, Klaipėda; Royal West Academy, Bristol; Dean Clough, Halifax; Paul Stolper, London; Galerie Heike Strelow, Frankfurt; Raid Projects, Los Angeles; and ENIA Gallery, Pireas. His work is featured in notable private collections including the seminal Sammlung Annette und Peter Nobel, Zurich and Beth Rudin DeWoody, Los Angeles. The event will take place at Michele Mack Gallery, 236 W 10th St, New York, NY 10014. Tuesday – Saturday 1-6pm. For further information please contact direct@charliesmithlondon.com. Follow @CHARLIESMITHIdn Please email direct@charliesmithlondon.com for artwork list |