Jesse Wright : Everywhere Return
Jesse Wright is an interdisciplinary artist based in Newark, New Jersey. He received his BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City and Middlesex Polytechnic in England. His artworks serve as tableaux in an ongoing poetic meditation on scripture. His visual approach references his blended Jamaican American heritage. Through mixed media paintings, often involving reclaimed materials from the streets, he recalls both urban textures as well as the various materials used across Jamaica’s landscape. The inclusion of language is informed in celebration of the hand painted signs and artistry of noted figures from the island such as “Nurse” and K.L. Rankine. The work is frequently layered and fragmented, juxtaposing figures with abstract, or gestural elements. His work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions Passaic County Art Center, Hawthorne, NJ; Newark Historical Society, Newark, NJ; Jersey City Museum, Jersey City, NJ; Kean University, Union, NJ and Shore Institute of Contemporary Arts, Long Branch, NJ; Latchkey Gallery, New York, NY.
Wright’s visual approach references his blended Jamaican-American heritage creating a language that addresses his ongoing allegory on displacement, migration and scripture.
On view are a series of works which forge visual circuits between historical narratives and present-day experiences. Images created from Wright’s time in Jamaica are bridged with his American life resulting in works rich in texture - layered in symbolism and meaning. Shifting from collage to geometrical patterns, to painterly gestures, Wright uses his maternal relatives as archetypes of migration. Hope, aspiration, strength and longing are all depicted giving attention to the complexity of humanity.
In Dog with Boy at Night in Jamaica, assembled by multiple panels into a harmonious triangle, the young figure gleefully plays with his dog highlighting the divinity of everyday life. Stylistically, Wright purposely outlines his figures to reveal what lies within. Here, the boy is between two worlds, the Jamaican flag firmly over his right shoulder, and on the left within the symbolic guidance of the night sky is the aspirational call of the American flag. Dog with Boy at Night in Jamaica serves as a metaphor for sacrifice, the boy’s unknowing future and his ultimate loss of country, identity and sense of home.
Throughout the exhibition, scale and style evoke the artist’s urban culture. Encoded samplings are pulled from his blended heritage, resulting in surfaces that invite a constant change in focus and a meditation on detail. The work of Wright is an ecumencial assemblage of art history, collecting inspiration from the fervent period of Renaissance through to the commercial symbolism of Pop Art. His visual language speaks to the tenor of our times, offering complex and diverse reverence to home. Also included are works related to mural projects and humanitarian aid efforts.
Wright’s visual approach references his blended Jamaican-American heritage creating a language that addresses his ongoing allegory on displacement, migration and scripture.
On view are a series of works which forge visual circuits between historical narratives and present-day experiences. Images created from Wright’s time in Jamaica are bridged with his American life resulting in works rich in texture - layered in symbolism and meaning. Shifting from collage to geometrical patterns, to painterly gestures, Wright uses his maternal relatives as archetypes of migration. Hope, aspiration, strength and longing are all depicted giving attention to the complexity of humanity.
In Dog with Boy at Night in Jamaica, assembled by multiple panels into a harmonious triangle, the young figure gleefully plays with his dog highlighting the divinity of everyday life. Stylistically, Wright purposely outlines his figures to reveal what lies within. Here, the boy is between two worlds, the Jamaican flag firmly over his right shoulder, and on the left within the symbolic guidance of the night sky is the aspirational call of the American flag. Dog with Boy at Night in Jamaica serves as a metaphor for sacrifice, the boy’s unknowing future and his ultimate loss of country, identity and sense of home.
Throughout the exhibition, scale and style evoke the artist’s urban culture. Encoded samplings are pulled from his blended heritage, resulting in surfaces that invite a constant change in focus and a meditation on detail. The work of Wright is an ecumencial assemblage of art history, collecting inspiration from the fervent period of Renaissance through to the commercial symbolism of Pop Art. His visual language speaks to the tenor of our times, offering complex and diverse reverence to home. Also included are works related to mural projects and humanitarian aid efforts.
