You immediately understand when you walk into Drawings 2003–2023, a beautiful display of Jonas Wood's drawings and works on paper over the last 20 years, that you are looking at a significant life's work up to now. Wood has long been situated in memory and space, and the way that he uses the space of Karma's East 2nd Street gallery in NYC seems revelatory. The framing position almost acts like the way we think of memorites, with certain parts of aging emerging as larger thoughts and some childhood collectibles sort of stuck in between. It is like we are seeing how Wood's brain is working through the process of his life.
And there are playful elements here, as well. You see baseball cards, still-lifes drawn at museums, family, friends, gardens, homes, interiors and exteriors. The world is slightly tilted here, not quite centered or aligned, but that fantasy is also a play on memory. There is also something deeply sincere, as the prolific nature of Wood's output is a need to remember it all, try and make every moment a pinnacle or something special even if ever so mundane. But there is nothing banal or simple in Wood's world, just the magic of capturing a fleeting thought. And on paper. —Evan Pricco