Boston-born artist Jason Jägel exudes a style that is hard to pin down. Two decades in the art world haven’t stunted an inherent skittishness that belies his age.
Born in 1971, there’s a frenetic energy that runs riot throughout his work, an energy befitting an artist more than half his age; but too there is a sense of unease that would be ignored by the naivety of youth. Amidst cartoon-like figures, there is the threat of panic — both explicitly in scrawled slogans, and in Jägel’s turbulent style.
A 2008 monograph of his work came accompanied by music from Madlib, whilst the San Francisco-based creative has worked on a number of album sleeves for MF DOOM — countless solo and group shows around the world, and work in major art institutions (MoMA, SFMOMA…), Jason Jägel is a reputable force in the art world. But it’s here at FFDG’s leftfield Mission gallery, in a show that spans studio ephemera; sketches; work on newsprint; oil paintings; gouache on paper; framed, unframed; large, small, where the artist’s experimental essence can be most honestly explored. Offering up a number of works at reasonable prices, Jägel challenges the fundamentals of the art world practically, as well as figuratively through his uncompromising style.
CRAP SHOOT continues at San Francisco’s FFDG gallery until 5 December.
