Following the success of his 2016 show with Unit London, Jake Wood Evans is back with a new body of work titled Transitions. Continuing his ongoing series of works inspired by 18th Century masters, these new pieces are clearly transitioning his interest towards landscape and even abstraction.
After examining classic portraiture, and creating works that construct an artificial feel of aging and history behind the images, Devon-born artist shifted towards other popular subjects of classic art. Working on these new motifs, the artist allowed himself more expressive approach to applying paint, ending his work somewhere between classic realism and expressive abstraction. Not copying or replicating the existing paintings, Evans developed an intricate process which results with canvases that capture the essence of such historic works. Using vivid hues of gold, red, orange, turquoise and blue, hidden behind layers of subdued colors, delicate brush work, washes and scratches, the subjects are appearing familiar and recognizable, while completely obscured and merely suggested. Making sure he preserves the warmth and glow of the classic masterpieces, the artist describes his work as ‘a process of conflict with the ambiguous space between representation and abstraction.—Sasha Bogojev
The show is on view through January 5, 2018.