Subversion of the Classic...Nine Minutes with Jake Wood-Evans
Jake Wood-Evans graduated from Falmouth University with a BA Honours in Fine Art where he was named 'Free Range' Most Promising Graduate. He has fulfilled this accolade by exhibiting internationally in art fairs and in galleries in London and the UK.
This month, he brings his first solo show - Subjection & Discipline - to Unit London, the West End's most innovative gallery. After Nyne were given an advance view of the show, and access to this exciting artist. Wood-Evans is contemplative and gives great thought to his craft. Drawing together the historic and the contemporary in work that could easily fit into now, or 100 years ago.
HIs exhibition haunts. The subversion of the vintage, and the classic focus of the gaze could be cliched, but Wood-Evans executes it with admirable verve. He draws you in, pushes you away, pulls you back.
You're curious, and each repeat glance brings up something new, intense, compulsive. This is not pastiche....there's vision here that cuts through any kind of pretence in that respect.
We'll be following the work of Jake Wood-Evans for a long time to come.
NINE MINUTES WITH JAKE WOOD-EVANS
Jake, what made you want to work with Unit London on your debut solo show?
I've been working with Unit London over the past few years. They have a genuine enthusiasm for my paintings and get behind the work that I really believe in. It's great working with a gallery that is as ambitious as I am!
What inspired your artistic path?
It has developed over time. The more I became interested in classical painting, the more that guided my path. It has also been a kind of reaction against trends in contemporary art that didn't affect me in the same way the Old Masters do.
Your work is an enigma. All at once you seem to admire, yet want to destroy history. What comes first - the love of history, or the desire to transform it?
The love of history. I am using history as my reference point, in the same way that we all do, but I am making it direct and declared. I find referencing the historical works directly helps me discover more about my interests and who I am as an artist. I don't see it as destroying history, but these times are slowly moving further away and fading from us, the destruction of history is a natural phenomenon in that sense. I see it as acknowledging how fragile our relationship to the past is.
What is your view on the lack of actual craftsmanship in contemporary art?
There is craftsmanship in contemporary art, but I find that often the ideas aren't interesting to me. And on the flip side, I see interesting ideas without the craftsmanship being present. When art is reduced to it's lowest common denominator, when it just becomes about printing money, there is something fundamental missing. When you look at work that is truly brilliant such as a Velasquez or a Rembrandt painting, that experience is incredibly moving, it gives you so much more. Personally I believe art should be a powerful experience. As you can probably imagine, a Damien Hirst spot painting isn't my cup of tea.
How would you describe your own work?
Paintings that display my interest and love of art as a craft. Reworking and reimagining the motifs and atmosphere of Old Master paintings in a way that celebrates my relationship with the classical works but also allows me to develop my paintings in new directions.
There’s a supernatural element to this show. Is this deliberate?
I suppose it plays a part, in that all of the subjects are now dead and belong to the past. I think of them more as memories than ghosts however. I see the exhibition as celebrating something that belongs in our collective historical conscious.
What’s more important to you - the audience seeing your vision, or seeing themselves in your work?
It's much more important to me that my work has the ability to present a question, rather than to be prescriptive or offer a simple statement. A question can be explored differently depending on the person who is viewing the work.
What impression would you like viewers to take away from your show?
I'm hoping the body of work will be powerful viewed as a collection. I would like viewers to feel as if they have entered another time, maybe to be swept up in the history and emotion of the original pieces. If people were inspired to look into the reference material that would be exciting.
Finally..can you give us some insight into what you’re going to be working on next?
I'm interested in bringing more colour into the work. I think I'll be focusing more on figures, maybe more nudes. There was a nice development as I was working on pieces for the show, working on figures not just portraits. I don't necessarily know, I'm always exploring.
Jake Wood-Evans: Subjection & Discipline
Private View: Thursday, 18 August 2016 from 18:30 to 21:30
Unit London, 147 Wardour Street, London, W1F 8WD - View Map
