Old City Gallery Walk | Lovers | Jacob Feige

Lovers
JACOB FEIGE

OLD CITY GALLERY WALK - FIRST FRIDAY | JUNE 7 | 5 - 8 PM.

Pentimenti Gallery would like to announce our new solo exhibition Lovers by Jacob Feige. 

Drawing inspiration from Byzantine icons and Modernist figurative painting, Jacob Feige embarks on a thought-provoking exploration of anonymity and individuality in the 21st century. Through a series of striking three-dimensional paintings, he invites viewers to ponder the complexities of self-expression, relationships, human identity, and the impact of technology.

Influenced by the works of Kazimir Malevich, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, and Oskar Schlemmer, Feige delves into the concept of universality in figurative art while acknowledging the loss of individuality in industrialized society. The anonymous portrait takes center stage in the age of digital culture, where algorithms shape perceptions and behaviors, often blurring the lines between authenticity and simulation.

The bodies of work, The Leaf People and Lovers, challenge traditional notions of portraiture by presenting figures that are deliberately abstracted, and devoid of overt emotional cues or markers of identity. Each portrait emerges from geometric drawings, evoking a sense of familiarity yet remaining enigmatic and unknowable—a simulation of authentic portraiture in the digital age.

Through plaster-cast portraits that sit on top of meticulously painted acrylic on canvas adorned with leaf and/or hand tracings, Jacob Feige creates a compelling dialogue between the transparent, incomplete self and the tangible, varied nature of existence. Synthetic colors, distinct from natural tones, further underscore the disconnect between humanity and its surroundings.

Lovers exhibition seeks to provoke contemplation, inviting audiences to ponder questions about the ever-changing tendencies of relationships and companionship, without offering easy answers. Jacob Feige's new works serve as a mirror to our digital selves, challenging us to reassess our bond with technology and the evolving landscape of identity in the present day.

Jacob Feige received an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2005. His work was on view at Rule Gallery, Marfa, TX and Denver, CO; David Richard Gallery, New York, NY; Lombard Freid Projects, New York, NY; Movement, Worcester, UK; Wasserman Projects, Detroit, MI; Chambers Fine Art, Beijing, China; Watergate Gallery, Seoul, South Korea; the Brooklyn Academy of Music, NY; among other venues. In 2018 he was artist-in-residence at the Princeton Cyprus Expedition, Polis Chrysochous, Cyprus. He was awarded a New Jersey Council on the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship in 2022. His work was featured in Artforum, Frieze, The New Yorker, Art in America, and Title Magazine, among others. 

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