Jason Shawn Alexander
Glorious Poison
October 22–December 17, 2016
101/EXHIBIT
668 N. La Peer Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90069
101/EXHIBIT proudly presents Glorious Poison, a solo exhibition of new works by Los Angeles-based artist Jason Shawn Alexander. This occasion marks Alexander’s fifth solo showing with the gallery, and is his third in Los Angeles. 101/EXHIBIT is located at 668 N La Peer Drive, on the southeast corner of the Santa Monica Blvd and N La Peer Drive intersection. The exhibition runs from October 22 through December 17, 2016 and occupies both floors of the gallery.
For this exhibition, Jason Shawn Alexander abandons the oil-on-canvas prevalence of his previous four shows in exclusive favor of ink-based paintings on canvas and paper. This is a significant shift in material for an artist who has dedicated years to painting in the traditional sense. With a further look into Alexander’s history, this transition to ink is more of a return to form than it is a stylistic change.
The foundation of Alexander’s career began as a comic book artist and writer. Storytelling and the use of ink were early elements of fervency as he began his artistic pursuits, which have spawned into his now prolific career in image making. In his formative stages as an artist, Alexander quickly gained notoriety for his draftsmanship but had an understanding that serious gallery work was generally reserved for loftier mediums. As his practice continued to evolve, his use of ink was relegated to a functional role in favor of paint in the tutelage of artists he mentored under or drew inspiration from.
In 2014, Alexander produced No Good At Exits, a hugely ambitious show of 28 paintings. In the vast majority of oil-on-canvas and mixed-media works, four pieces in particular (re)surfaced, The Mourners. Titled “Mourners 8, 9, 10, and 11″ respectively, these were large-scale ink paintings that picked up from where this major series of work left off in 2010, when Alexander began to heavily implement paint. This development proved to foretell a return to his foundations, as Alexander has since dedicated his studio practice entirely to ink and drawing for the past two years. Having reignited his natural prowess in drawing, Glorious Poison is no longer a question of medium, but a declaration of a well deliberated decision. Drawing is Alexander’s original and true love, and this exhibition highlights the practice that the artist engages in daily, habitually. He is nearly always found, anywhere and at any time, with ink and sketchbook in hand to satisfy a fix for his compulsive and constant need to render his surroundings.
In conclusion, Glorious Poison is titled as such as a declaration of admission, or a conceding to truths about who one really is, and what things they are ultimately concerned with. “Pick your poison” or “what’s your poison” says the bartender, expressions that soften and invite one’s vice to surface without judgment. This exhibition glorifies Alexander’s roots as a true draftsman who prefers ink and storytelling. It also celebrates his artistic journey and his ever-growing expertise in the field of creating compelling and remarkable imagery that is neither solely figurative nor abstract, but walks the path between said polarities.
