James Jarvis has been on a bit of a roll over the last few years, finding ways to reimagine and evolve his signature illustration and character style across a multitude of mediums and genres. In Paris back in the Spring, we saw Jarvis create a series of wall sculptures of wood and iron. Now, for his newest solo show, Throw-ups, now on view at Nanzuka Underground in Tokyo through August 24, Jarvis created a series of sculptures works on the wall, spray paint on canvas works, illustrations and plexiglass sculptures. 

In addition to a selection of drawing works that Jarvis continues to create as his daily artistic routine, this exhibition presents a new spray painting, lazer-cut wooden relief, a two-dimensional work using colored acrylic panels, and a broze sculptural work. Jarvis who states, “Drawing, for me, is a bit like breathing. It's something I feel compelled to do,” expresses interest towards a diverse range of fields. From philosophical thinking to various languages, history, social issues, popular culture, art, architecture, and even skateboarding, Jarvis’ characters that draw inspiration from such interests, despite being extremely simple in their nature, present themselves as eloquent, comical, and ironical reflections of ourselves.

Jarvis says: “I see drawing more as a means of understanding the world than as an aesthetic construction for transcribing or recording an image. I am interested in the way that the process of making a drawing about something is a way of decoding and understanding that thing.”

Read our interview with James Jarvis from Winter 2019 here.